New York’s billionaire mayor and the country’s largest foundation are teaming up to kick smoking in the butt.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is going to invest $125 million to fight tobacco use and push for tobacco-control policies in developing countries, according to a Bloomberg story posted on the Gates foundation’s Web site. The total includes a $24 million commitment to Michael Bloomberg’s Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which the mayor started in 2005 to help developing countries control tobacco abuse.
Bloomberg started the initiative with a $125 million outlay. He will now add another $250 million of his own money over the next four years.
