Michael Bloomberg
Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)
Michael R. Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who served as mayor of New York City from 2002-2013 after 20 years leading the company he founded in 1981. Since leaving City Hall, he has resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP.
Helping people live longer and healthier lives was also top priority for Mayor Bloomberg, who quickly became a national leader on public health. After New York City banned smoking in bars and restaurants, cities and states across the nation – and countries around the world – followed suit. Thanks in part to the Mayor’s public health initiatives, life expectancy in New York City grew by more than 3 years and increased to 2.2 years longer than the national average.
As a philanthropist, Bloomberg has given more than $4.3 billion in support of education, the environment, government innovation, the arts, and public health. His philanthropic investments in public health aim to combat widespread health hazards by spreading proven solutions that protect more people and save more lives. These investments include initiatives to eradicate polio and reduce deaths by noncommunicable diseases by tackling global tobacco use, drowning, and obesity, and improving access to maternal health care. Bloomberg has paid special attention to unmet health needs. To stem deaths and injuries caused by traffic crashes, he has lead efforts to improve road safety, and in 2015, he joined the Australian government to co-fund a $100 million initiative to improve health data systems in low- and middle-income countries.
As Mayor of New York City, Bloomberg brought the city back from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, increased graduation rates and private sector job numbers to record highs, reduced crime by more than 30% and the city’s carbon footprint by 19%, revitalized the waterfront, expanded support for arts and culture, and implemented ambitious anti-poverty programs.
In recognition of his efforts in public health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was renamed in his honour. In 2016, he helped create the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Johns Hopkins University, which will focus on one of the most promising avenues of cancer research today.
Bloomberg graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School.
https://www.who.int/goodwill_ambassadors/mike_bloomberg/en/