Bloomberg Philanthropies recently announced Tokyo as the newest city to join the Partnership for Healthy Cities as part of a $12 million reinvestment to expand the number of cities in the programme from 54 to 70.

Launched in 2017, the Partnership for Healthy Cities—supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Vital Strategies—provides cities with financial assistance and technical advice from public health experts to implement their chosen intervention to reduce noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) or injuries. Tokyo is going to work with the partnership in the area of air quality monitoring.

‘Today, cities are where the action is on issues from climate change to health, and the people who lead them are more important than ever,’ said Kelly Henning, head of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ public health programmes. ‘Governor Koike is one of those key leaders. She understands the power of cities to not just make life-saving choices for people who live there but to serve as a model for the rest of the world. I commend Governor Koike on her leadership in improving the health of the people of Tokyo.’

Other new cities joining the Partnership as part of this expansion are Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Athens, Greece; Birmingham, UK; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Dakar, Senegal; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Hanoi, Vietnam; Harare, Zimbabwe; Helsinki, Finland; Hong Kong, China; Istanbul, Turkey; Kumasi, Ghana; Muscat, Oman; Tunis, Tunisia; and Vancouver, Canada.

‘We are delighted to join this fast-growing network of 70 cities around the world that are committed to the public health and better lives of their citizens,’ said Governor Koike. ‘We look forward to collaborating with the Partnership for Healthy Cities to have open dialogue with member cities, share best practices and learn from each other.’

‘Cities have the power and opportunity to take action to protect people’s health,’ said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. ‘WHO stands ready to support this work, and we commend the governor of Tokyo and all cities working with the Partnership for their commitment to preventing deaths from NCDs and injuries.’

‘We recognize the commitment and early successes of our partner cities as they work to ensure healthier and safer environments for their residents, an outcome that will only grow as we expand the global network,’ said José Luis Castro, President and CEO of Vital Strategies. ‘Each city is demonstrating that rapid progress against the world’s leading killers is possible, and each serve as a model for change at the country and regional levels.’

In addition to offering technical support to individual cities, the Partnership also brings together cities at workshops to exchange lessons and strategies.

For more see: http://www.bloomberg.org