Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use Awards 500 Grants Since 2007

Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced that the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use Grants Program has awarded 500 grants since 2007. The Bloomberg Initiative Grants Program was designed to provide direct funding to governments and non-government organizations located in low- and middle-income countries to support development and implementation of evidence-based tobacco control activities. Since inception, the program has distributed $100 million in grants to more than 70 countries. More than 5 billion people—almost 75 percent of the world’s population—live in a country that has received a grant.

The majority of Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use grants are through a bi-annual competitive process. An innovative component of the program is the provision of selected “rapid response” grants to address urgent country-specific tobacco control needs. The program, jointly managed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, provides consistent monitoring and technical assistance to grantees over the duration of each grant.

Other highlights of the program include:

• About one-third of the funding has been provided directly to governments in low- and middle-income countries, to support them in strengthening their tobacco control programs.
• The other two-thirds of funding has been provided to non-profit organizations that encourage government action or aid governments in implementing laws well.
• The “rapid response” mechanism of the grants program has provided small, urgently needed funding in 27 countries. These grants average only $38,000 and are provided very quickly.

Grants have supported countries as they have made critical tobacco control progress.

• 32 countries successfully supported to implement national smoke-free legislation, providing protection from second-hand smoke to over 1.3 billion people.
• 24 countries successfully supported to implement legislative bans on tobacco advertising, protecting nearly 1 billion people from tobacco advertising.
• 31 countries successfully supported to implement pictorial health warnings to warn about the dangers of tobacco use to over 2.7 billion people.
• 12 countries successfully supported to increase tobacco taxes.
• In total, 46 countries representing over 4.5 billion people have made critical legislative improvements supported by the grants program.