Honored by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) for his forceful public health measures against smoking, trans fats, and gun violence, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told an audience of approximately 450 people at the Julius B. Richmond award ceremony that the foundation of his public health strategy is respecting science. The annual award is the highest honor bestowed by HSPH. The ceremony took place at The Conference Center, HMS, on October 29, 2007.
From left to right, Dean Barry R. Bloom, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and HSPH Professor Howard K. Koh
"We've based policy not on what we want to be true, but what we can prove to be true," Bloomberg said in his lecture. "I've always believed in the power of good, solid data," he added, "Because if you can't measure a problem, you can't manage it."
Bloomberg asserted that data and scientific discovery are being overridden by political ideology - especially in Washington, D.C. Decrying it as "political" science, the Mayor added, "You can see it at work in the movement to restrict federal funding for stem cell research or to discredit the theories of evolution and climate change."
Bloomberg, who was born in Brighton, Mass., and grew up in Brookline and Medford, is in his second term of leading the city of 8.2 million people. He was graduated from Johns Hopkins University and earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
"Let me offer my gratitude once again for this very kind, and surprising, honor," Bloomberg said. "If you had told me four decades ago, during my days here on campus, that I would one day receive the School of Public Health's highest award, it would have seemed ridiculous," he said, adding that his professors "would have been even more surprised."
A munificent philanthropist, Bloomberg has been a major donor to Johns Hopkins, whose School of Public Health bears his name. He has also given $125 million to create the Worldwide Stop Smoking Initiative.
Since becoming Mayor of New York City in 2002, Bloomberg recounted, his administration has taken legislative steps to reduce tobacco-related illness, combat heart disease and diabetes, and give police broader access to data on sales of firearms. He signed a bill - amid significant controversy - prohibiting smoking in the city's bars and restaurants, and under his leadership the city's Board of Health made New York the first city to ban trans fats in restaurant food. The Bloomberg administration also proposed a rule requiring fast-food chain restaurants to display prominently the calorie content of menu items, but the restaurant lobby has so far successfully opposed it.
He is working to create the first-ever public health diabetes registry, and is a strong advocate of gun control. Bloomberg joined with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to create a coalition of mayors to keep illegal guns off the streets.
The most urgent challenge his city and the nation confront now, Bloomberg told a press conference prior to the talk, is fighting the epidemic of obesity. In addition to the ban on trans fats and listing fast food's caloric content, Bloomberg said his administration is working with small food stores in ethnic neighborhoods to encourage them to offer customers alternatives to obesity-inducing high-calorie soft drinks and whole milk, such as diet soda and skim milk, for example.
Bloomberg's lecture was attended by HSPH faculty and students; Harvard's new President Drew Faust; past Richmond award winners; New York City health officials; friends of the School; former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis; and Bloomberg's 98-year-old mother, Charlotte.
Howard Koh, head of the HSPH Division of Public Health Practice, opened the event. The Division co-sponsored the award and lecture.
From left to right, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Harvard President Drew G. Faust, and Dr. Julius B. Richmond
Also present was Julius Richmond, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy Emeritus at Harvard, after whom the award is named. He is a former U.S. Surgeon General, the first national director of the Head Start Program, and a longtime advocate for improving the health status of children in the United States and internationally.
Richmond closed the event, praising Bloomberg for providing a "model" of public health practice, embodying three key factors: a knowledge base of scientific data, political will, and social strategies that gain support for policies.
"And he does this with creativity - he thinks out of the box, considers the next steps, and the long-range effects," Richmond said. "And along with this has been remarkable consistency - never taking his eyes off the right target."
—RS
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
