Michael Bloomberg and Gates Foundation Join in Historic Commitment to Combat Global...

Michael Bloomberg and Gates Foundation Join in Historic Commitment to Combat
Global Tobacco Epidemic

WASHINGTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is the Statement
of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

Michael Bloomberg and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a
truly historic commitment of $500 million to the global fight against tobacco
use, focused on helping governments in developing countries implement proven
policies and programs to reduce tobacco use.

Today's announcement by Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates highlights both the
devastating scope of the global tobacco epidemic and the fact that it is
entirely preventable if nations seize this opportunity to implement proven
solutions. Mayor Bloomberg and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are true
champions of global health, and they have provided unprecedented leadership
and commitment in fighting tobacco use, the world's leading cause of
preventable death. Their announcement challenges nations to provide
additional resources and take urgent action that can save millions of lives.

Today's announcement includes and builds on the $125 million initiative that
Mayor Bloomberg launched in 2006 and is already producing meaningful progress
around the world. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is honored and grateful
to be one of the five implementing organizations for the Bloomberg Initiative
to Reduce Tobacco Use, along with the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
the World Health Organization and the World Lung Foundation. We look forward
to working with our partners, Mayor Bloomberg and the Gates Foundation to
accelerate and expand the progress that has been made under this initiative.

Tobacco use killed one hundred million people in the 20th century, and if
current trends continue, it will claim one billion lives in the 21st century,
according to the WHO. Tobacco use already kills 5.4 million people a year and
the epidemic is worsening, especially in the developing world where more than
80 percent of tobacco-caused deaths will occur in the coming decades.

The good news is that we know how to stop this epidemic, and 157 nations have
committed themselves to doing so by ratifying the Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first international treaty devoted
entirely to public health. This treaty provides a road map for successfully
reducing tobacco use if rigorously and fully implemented.

Earlier this year, Mayor Bloomberg and the WHO released a report that
identified a package of six cost-effective solutions that are mandated by the
provisions of the FCTC that have been proven to reduce tobacco use and should
be implemented in every nation. Called the MPOWER package, these solutions
require nations to:

Monitor tobacco use and assess the impact of tobacco prevention and cessation
efforts;

Protect everyone from secondhand smoke with laws that require smoke-free
workplaces and public places;

Offer help to every tobacco user to quit;

Warn and effectively educate every person about the dangers of tobacco use
with strong, pictorial health warnings and hard-hitting, sustained media
campaigns;

Enact and enforce comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and
sponsorships and on the use of misleading terms such as "light" and "low-tar;"
and

Raise the price of tobacco products by significantly increasing tobacco taxes.

By implementing many of these solutions under Mayor Bloomberg's leadership,
New York City has shown the world that it is possible to quickly and
dramatically reduce tobacco use. The Bloomberg Initiative has already
contributed to significant progress in implementing these measures around the
world, in countries including China, Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines
and Turkey. The additional resources announced today by Mayor Bloomberg and
the Gates Foundation will accelerate the implementation of these proven
solutions and save even more lives.

About the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Based in Washington, D.C., the
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is a leader in the fight to reduce tobacco use
and its devastating consequences in the United States and around the world.
As part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, the Campaign works
with governments and non-governmental organizations in promoting and
implementing public policies to reduce tobacco use. Visit
www.tobaccofreecenter.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Joel Spivak of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, +1-202-296-5469