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Bill Gates, Bloomberg to target smoking globally

BY MICHAEL FRAZIER | michael.frazier@newsday.com

July 24, 2008

Money-strapped smoking cessation programs in developing countries like India and Indonesia are getting a multimillion-dollar boost from Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The billionaire philanthropists announced yesterday a $500 million investment to reduce tobacco use in countries around the globe where smoking is prevalent.

More than 5 million people are killed by tobacco each year and there's an estimated 1 billion smokers in the world, officials said.

Bloomberg, a former smoker, funded $125 million for a campaign to reduce tobacco use in 2005.

He announced yesterday he's now committing to $250 million over the next four years.

Gates, chairman of the global relief organization the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, promised $125 million for the anti-tobacco strategy.

The mayor's initiative supports efforts to increase the tobacco tax, transform the glamorized image of tobacco, help people quit and protect nonsmokers from secondhand exposure.

"The reality is that all the money in the world will never eradicate tobacco use and that this problem is too big for any one person or organization to solve," Bloomberg said.

"It's going to take a sustained commitment by government, community organizations and the entire global health community, including those who fund it."

Bloomberg's anti-smoking work mainly focuses on low- and middle-income countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Bangladesh.

Focus on the developing world is key, Gates said, pointing out that some countries like China are major tobacco producers, not just consumers.

More than a third of the world's cigarettes are made in China, where 67 percent of men and 57 percent of doctors smoke, he said.

Gates, who has dedicated millions to AIDS relief in Africa, said smoking on the continent is currently not at levels like other areas, but added there are no cessation programs to control tobacco use.

"The epidemic in Africa is not well advanced - that means we can catch it at an early stage," he said.