Newswise — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City has been named the 2007 recipient of the Julius B. Richmond Award, the highest honor given by Harvard School of Public Health.
With a series of bold initiatives that recognize public health as a core municipal responsibility and opportunity, Mayor Bloomberg has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in protecting and promoting the health of New York City's residents. Operating at the level of government where public health knowledge can be translated into practices that directly affect entire communities, Mayor Bloomberg has utilized city regulatory authority and communications campaigns through the City Health Department to mount highly visible and successful efforts at both improving the health and safety of the environment in which New Yorkers live and supporting community-based actions that promote individual behavior change for healthier living. His public health initiatives, in the world's highest-profile city, have emboldened public health efforts in other municipalities both here and abroad.
From restaurants to school yards to streets, Mayor Bloomberg has impacted the health of millions of citizens with initiatives on issues including tobacco use, gun violence and unhealthy fats. He has been especially mindful of reducing the disparities in health status that separate various communities in the five boroughs in the Take Care New York program to reduce preventable illness and death.
The Richmond Award recognizes those who carry forth the vision of former U.S. Surgeon General and Harvard emeritus professor Julius B. Richmond, who provided innovative leadership to protect vulnerable populations, children, and all Americans. He issued the momentous Report on Tobacco that changed U.S. policies, set targets for the health of the American public with Healthy People 2000 and was the first national director of the Head Start Program.
Mayor Bloomberg and Dr. Julius B. Richmond will address the Harvard community at a lecture and award ceremony sponsored by the HSPH Division of Public Health Practice and the Office of the Dean, on Monday, October 29, 4:30-6 p.m., at the Conference Center at Harvard Medical, neighboring Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
Members of the Harvard community wishing to attend will need to RSVP to Megan Casey McGrath [email protected]. This event is not open to the public.
Press wishing to attend a pre-event briefing with Mayor Bloomberg please RSVP to [email protected].
Said Barry R. Bloom, Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health: "From his position as mayor of one of the world's greatest cities, Michael Bloomberg has exhibited courageous leadership in championing and implementing a series of public health initiatives that will have a positive impact on millions of New York's citizens' lives. He is demonstrating every day how public health knowledge and evidence can be brought to his communities so that all may live their lives to the fullest potential. He exemplifies the understanding that the health of a city is related not only to its fiscal health but also to the health of its citizens and their ability to contribute to the life of the city."
Among Mayor Bloomberg's public health accomplishments:
· Led the successful ban of smoking in New York City bars and restaurants, which along with high taxes on cigarettes, workplace smoking limits and $10 million in anti-smoking TV ads, created the sharpest drop in smokers since record-keeping began in 1993
· In 2006 made New York the first city in the nation to ban dangerous trans fats in restaurant food
· Joined with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to create coalition of mayors to keep illegal guns off the streets and press for repeal of Tiahrt Amendment that restricts local law enforcement's access to gun tracking data.
· Created Opportunity NYC, the nation's first 'conditional cash transfer' program for children, adults and families living in poverty. Privately-funded pilot programs award cash incentives to individuals who meet conditions, such as school attendance, aimed at improving education, health and workforce outcomes.
· Sharply increased demand for free condoms by branding with official New York City logo, distributing 18 million to combat sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS
Recently Mayor Bloomberg has made a commitment to create an environmentally sustainable city by 2025, which puts him at the forefront of efforts to curtail environmental pollutants that threaten people's health and the health of the planet. His efforts in this area have included negotiations to introduce congestion pricing in New York, which would reduce traffic by charging a fee to people who drive into the busiest parts of Manhattan.
Mayor Bloomberg's commitment to public health has extended from his civic role to a personal philanthropic commitment to education and research in public health, supporting the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a global initiative to fight tobacco use. A native of Medford, MA., he received his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the founder of Bloomberg L.P., the financial news and software service company.
Past Recipients of the Julius B. Richmond Award:
2006
William H. Foege
Former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Anthony S. Fauci
Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
2005
Kenneth Olden
Former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Erin Brockovich-Ellis
Environmental activist
2004
Mike Moore
Former Mississippi Attorney General
Christine Gregoire
Washington Attorney General
Scott Harshbarger
Former Massachusetts Attorney General
Matthew Myers
President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Dimitrios Trichopoulos
Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention at HSPH
2003
Katie Couric
NBC Today Show Host and Colorectal Cancer Screening Advocate
2002
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
2001
Dr. Marian Wright Edelman
Founder of the Children's Defense Fund
2000
Dr. David A. Hamburg
Co-chair, Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict
(1994-1999) and President Emeritus of the Carnegie Corporation
1999
The late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere
Elder statesman and President of Tanzania (1962-1985)
1998
Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders
Former U.S. Surgeon General
1997
Donna Shalala
Former Secretary of Health and Human Services
Harvard School of Public Health is dedicated to advancing the public's health through learning, discovery, and communication. More than 300 faculty members are engaged in teaching and training the 900-plus student body in a broad spectrum of disciplines crucial to the health and well being of individuals and populations around the world. Programs and projects range from the molecular biology of AIDS vaccines to the epidemiology of cancer; from risk analysis to violence prevention; from maternal and children's health to quality of care measurement; from health care management to international health and human rights. For more information on the school visit: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu
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