Five cities recognized for public health achievements at Partnership for Healthy Cities Summit

Winners of the Partnership for Healthy Cities award are Montevideo, Uruguay for food policy; Mexico City, Mexico for road safety; Vancouver, Canada for supervision; Athens, Greece for overdose prevention, and Bengaluru, India for tobacco control.

The first summit of its kind was convened in London by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the World Health Organization, Vital Strategies and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

Today, during the inauguration Partnership for healthy cities At a summit in London, five world cities were recognized for their achievements in the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries. The summit brought together mayors and officials from more than 50 major cities in partnership to discuss pressing public health issues and best practices that save lives and create healthier cities.

With the majority of the global population now living in urban environments, ensuring the health and well-being of the residents of our world’s urban centers is critical. NCD – including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases – and injuries they are responsible for over 80% of all deaths in the world. Cities are in a unique position to transform the fight against noncommunicable diseases and injuries by implementing policies to significantly reduce exposure to risk factors. The summit highlights best practices and proven interventions, which is especially important as public health risks becoming less of a priority three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Non-communicable diseases and injuries are the number one threat to global public health. Mayors around the world are increasingly uniting to tackle this, and the Partnership for Healthy Cities will continue to support their urgent, life-saving work,” withaid Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, 108th Mayor of New York and World Health Organization Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries. “Our network’s first Summit showcased the best of local leadership in public health, and given the gains made by our inaugural award winners, we expect even more leaders to follow in their footsteps as they create healthier, more vibrant cities.”

“The five cities recognized today show that mayors can drive strong progress in protecting the health of their citizens,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “WHO remains committed to working through the Partnership for Healthy Cities to support mayors around the world in building cities that promote and protect health, not harm it.”

Founded in 2017, the Partnership for Healthy Cities is a prestigious global network of 70 cities working together to prevent noncommunicable diseases and injuries. Mayors in the partnership are invited to join and are committed to solving a pressing public health issue in their city. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with WHO and Vital strategies, this initiative enables cities around the world to implement a high-impact policy or programmatic intervention to reduce noncommunicable diseases and injuries in their communities. Through the Partnership for Healthy Cities, local leaders around the world have enacted policies that improve the health and safety of millions of people.

During the summit, five member cities received the 2023 Partnership for Healthy Cities award for positively impacting the health of their populations and making sustainable and lasting strides towards NCD and injury prevention that can be replicated in other jurisdictions.

The five winning cities, each receiving $150,000 to further work with the partnership, are:

• Athens, Greece to increase access to the opioid overdose reversal agent, naloxone, in community organizations and among health professionals. The city also began investigating the causes of death among injecting drug users to better understand the impact of the overdose crisis;
• Bengaluru, India for their tobacco control efforts, specifically, reducing smoking in public places and improving compliance with existing smoke-free mandates;
• Mexico City, Mexico for improving road safety and safe and active mobility by starting a bicycle path on a busy road, which led to a 275% increase in the number of cyclists; implementation of a common lane for cyclists and buses separated from cars; establishment of loading and unloading areas; and optimizing the design and management of roads near schools;
• Montevideo, Uruguay to establish nutritional standards for the preparation and sale of food in government agency offices and some public universities, to focus on sodium reduction policies, and to develop media campaigns and educational materials; and
• Vancouver, Canada to make public health data more inclusive and accessible by launching an online public health data tool that tracks population health indicators and working with urban indigenous communities to better manage data.

“These initiatives not only improve the health of Londoners, but reduce the pressure on our health services and ensure that future generations can thrive. Improving the health of Londoners will always be at the heart of my vision of building a safer and more prosperous London for all.”said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan“I am pleased to join mayors from around the world today to tackle some of the biggest issues facing our cities. The health of our citizens is the city’s greatest asset, so I am taking bold steps to invest in the health of Londoners, such as limiting unhealthy food advertising on the Transport for London network and expanding the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which will mean five million more Londoners will be able to breathe cleaner air.”

“Cities are places where health can be produced or threatened,” said José Luis Castro, President and CEO, Vital Strategies. “We applaud the work of urban leaders around the world in their efforts to create healthier, stronger and fairer cities. We look forward to continuing our work supporting cities with the tools and resources needed to achieve proven solutions that prevent NCDs and injuries.”

Notes for editors:

The mayors who attended the inaugural Healthy Cities Partnership Summit—and their cities’ public health focus areas—are:

• Mayor Kiritkumar Jivanlal ParmarAhmedabad, India
  Area of ​​focus: Surveillance of non-communicable diseases
• Major Costas BakoyannisAthens, Greece
  Area of ​​focus: Overdose prevention
• Major Jose SartoFortaleza, Brazil
  Area of ​​focus: Improving air quality monitoring
• Major Erias LukwagoKampala, Uganda
  Area of ​​focus: Improving air quality monitoring
• Mayor Balendra ShahKathmandu, Nepal
  Area of ​​focus: Improving air quality monitoring
• Major Samuel PyneKumasi, Ghana
  Area of ​​focus: Reducing traffic fatalities through speed management
• Mayor Sadiq KhanLondon, United Kingdom
  Area of ​​focus: reducing children’s exposure to unhealthy food and drink through advertising restrictions
• Mayor Chilando ChitangalaLusaka, Zambia
  Area of ​​focus: Reduction of injuries in road traffic, with special emphasis on women and children
• Major Carolina CosseMontevideo, Uruguay
  Area of ​​focus: Nutrition standards
• Major Joy BelmonteQuezon City, Philippines
  Area of ​​focus: Seeking a healthier restaurant environment, with a focus on calorie labeling on menus
• Governor Claudio Orrego LarraínSantiago, Chile
  Area of ​​focus: Development of mobility policy in metropolises
• Major Carolina MejiaSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic
  Focus area: speed management on city avenues
• Mayor Se-hoon OhSeoul, South Korea
  Focus area: Improving compliance with restrictions on tobacco advertising in public places

About the Partnership for Healthy Cities

The Partnership for Healthy Cities (PHC), supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Vital Strategies, is a prestigious global network of 70 cities whose mayors have committed to preventing non-communicable diseases – including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and chronic lung disease—and injury through proven interventions.

In 2021, the partnership launched a Policy Accelerator to support an initial group of 15 cities in the network to create and adopt strong public health policies and institutionalize development processes for future policy. The second group of policy accelerator cities will be announced at the summit. More information and statistics about the Partnership for Healthy Cities and the Policy Accelerator can be found at cities4health.org.

About Bloomberg Philanthropies

Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better and longer lives for as many people as possible. The organization focuses on five key areas to create lasting change: the arts, education, the environment, government innovation and public health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate and personal philanthropy, as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consulting firm working in cities around the world. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed US$1.7 billion. For more information visitbloomberg.org, sign up for our bulletin,or follow us furtherFacebook,Instagram,YouTube,Twitterand LinkedIn .