Blog

by Dr. Kelly Henning, Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Health team lead

Brazil, a country known for its spectacular coastline, football prowess, and vibrant culture, has also become known in the public health community for its progressive action to prevent noncommunicable diseases.

On the first stop of my “Global Health Checkup,” I was not only wowed by Rio’s sprawling beaches and Brasilia’s magnificent architecture but also by the incredible work public health leaders are doing to help their citizens lead healthier lives.

By Dr. Vishal Rao, Chief of Head Neck Surgical Oncology at Healthcare Global Enterprise Cancer Hospital in Bengaluru, India

Bengaluru is a city on the rise. In India’s southern Karnataka state, the city has become the tech hub of the global south, with a burgeoning start-up community and an Asian base for the world’s largest technology companies. But a smoke-filled cloud hangs over Bengaluru’s success. A national law prohibiting smoking in public places has not led to smoke free spaces, and many individuals are unaware of the harms of exposure to secondhand smoke in workplaces and homes.

Bengaluru is fighting to change the status quo. As part of the Partnership for Healthy Cities – supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Vital Strategies and the World Health Organization –Bengaluru has committed to becoming a smoke-free city.

Last week, Bloomberg Philanthropies brought 54 communications leaders from city halls in the U.S. and the U.K. to New York City to discuss these topics and more. In panel conversations, workshops, and one-on-ones, they traded tips on social media and storytelling, considered the changing media industry, and learned the latest and best practices for organizing a comms shop. Here are four strategies that emerged last week that are likely to reflect where the field of city-government communications is headed.

By Dr. Kelly Henning, Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Health team lead

April 22 is Earth Day. As we focus on conserving our lands and cleaning up our planet, it is important to also remember that the exposures in our environment impact our physical health.

The air pollution that comes from burning fuels for energy can also cause noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke and lung diseases. These diseases lead to over 39.5 million deaths globally every year of which over six million are due to outdoor and indoor air pollution.

In the United States, over two million people are addicted to opioids and an average of 115 people die every day from opioid overdoses. It is a complicated issue that requires multifaceted solutions, with engagement and action from many stakeholders.

In this episode, Dr. Kelly Henning, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Health Program Lead, speaks with Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also director of the school’s Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which was launched with a $300 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

By Madeline Fletcher, Executive Director of Newburgh Community Land Bank

Just 60 miles north of Manhattan, in the post-industrial Hudson River city of Newburgh – a town gutted by urban renewal and crippled by the foreclosure crisis – the Newburgh Community Land Bank has been working in overdrive to give vacant and abandoned properties new life.  We are a quasi-public non-profit agency that acquires titles of abandoned properties. Our ultimate goal is to help a community provide livable homes and build strong neighborhoods.

By Kelly Larson, Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Health team

Each year, drowning claims the lives of 360,000 people, with more than 90 percent of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, more than half of all drowning deaths occur among those under 25-years-old, with children under age 5 at greatest risk.

Drowning is often considered a “silent epidemic” due to the lack of attention it receives around the world. Bloomberg Philanthropies is dedicated to addressing this under-recognized public health issue. Our work began in 2012, with a study on the effectiveness of community daycares and playpens in Bangladesh for roughly 70,000 children under the age of 5. The study showed a 74 percent reduction in drowning deaths for children in daycare. These children also demonstrated increased cognitive development.

In the United States, research shows less than 50 percent of high-achieving, lower-income students apply to a selective college or university despite the fact that they are talented and have great qualifications. And only 6 percent of the students at top colleges and universities are from lower-income backgrounds.

Today’s episode explores how colleges and universities are seeing this problem and doing something about it. College presidents are joining together in the American Talent Initiative or ATI, a program to increase the number of low- and moderate-income students enrolled at schools with the highest graduation rates. Their goal? To accept, enroll and graduate an additional 50,000 of these students by 2025.

This week, teams from 35 city halls across the United States are getting a crash course in how to take a good idea and test, learn, and adapt to make it better.

They’re the Champion Cities — finalists in the 2018 Mayors Challenge to find bold ideas for solving cities’ toughest problems, including everything from climate change and homelessness, to public health and infrastructure. We awarded each of them up to $100,000 to develop their ideas over a six-month testing phase. One city will win a grand prize of $5 million in October, while four others will win $1 million.

In honor of the winners of the 2018 Bloomberg Philanthropies Tobacco Awards and the progress these countries have made, we revisit one of our favorite podcast episodes about the worldwide fight to reduce tobacco use. This episode’s conversation is between Neena Prasad of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Health team, Yolonda Richardson, from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and Jose Luis Castro, executive director of the Union and CEO of Vital Strategies.