Bloomberg, Gates Team Up to Fight Smoking

Michael Bloomberg is joining Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in an effort to curb smoking in developing countries

by Alison Damast

Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates are about to become two of the global tobacco industry's most formidable opponents. The billionaire duo plan to pump a combined $500 million—including $375 million in new funds—through 2013 to combat what public health officials have deemed a global tobacco epidemic.

The New York mayor and Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder said they are hoping to jumpstart a global movement to curb the use of tobacco among adults and teens in developing countries such as China, India, and Indonesia. With the help of partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO), they aim to help government officials and business leaders in low- and middle-income countries create tobacco control programs, raise tobacco taxes, ban advertising, and create smoke-free public spaces. "This partnership with Gates' foundation underscores how much the tide is truly turning against this epidemic," Bloomberg said at a July 23 news conference at The New York Times (NYT) headquarters. "This takes it to the next level."

The project is being launched just as Bloomberg is entering the twilight of his mayoral career. In recent months there has been a swirl of speculation on Bloomberg's future after his second term ends in December 2009. The mayor, a former smoker, has taken a fervent stand against smoking since entering office. In 2002, he waged a battle to ban smoking in New York City bars and restaurants. (In 1990, San Luis Obispo, Calif., became the first municipality with such a ban.) In recent years, two dozen states have followed New York's lead by banning smoking in restaurants and bars, with a handful of other countries following suit.

With slightly more than a year left in office, Bloomberg, who founded the financial data-service firm Bloomberg, is beginning to set his sights on larger goals, said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University and an adviser to the mayor's first campaign. One of these is to be a "major player" on the global health front, Moss said. "Mike Bloomberg is going to be probably more important and more influential out of office than in office," Moss said. "Instead of trying to improve conditions in New York's five boroughs, he's going to be looking at the five continents of the world."

The Gates Foundation's Heft

Bloomberg has managed to secure a powerful partner for his project, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the world, with assets of more than $37 billion, will invest $125 million over five years to fight tobacco use, including a $24 million grant to Bloomberg's initiative. This is just the start of "many things" the two will work on together in coming years, Gates said. "Michael and I have somewhat similar world views and I'm excited that, at some point, he'll be putting more time into this because we need more voices on this issue," Gates said.

The investment by the Gates Foundation will complement the work currently being done by Bloomberg's private charity in the war against smoking. Bloomberg started an initiative called "Bloomberg's Effort to Reduce Tobacco Use" back in 2006, initially funneling $125 million into the project. Over the next four years, Bloomberg will add an additional $250 million to the campaign—for a total of $375 million in contributions—with the ultimate goal of reducing smoking in the 15 low- and middle-income countries that harbor the majority of the world's smokers. The money will be distributed among five groups, including the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.