Public health has been a hallmark of Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropy. In 2007, the Bloomberg Family Foundation donated $9 million for pilot programs promoting motorcycle helmet use in Vietnam and Mexico. The effort quickly recorded 20 percent reductions in both countries in head-injury fatalities. Following this success, Bloomberg established a standing program within his foundation to improve road safety broadly in poorer countries. More than $250 million has so far been donated to efforts to chip away at the 1.2 million annual deaths from traffic accidents across the globe—making the foundation the world’s leading advocate for road safety.
- Bloomberg program site, bloomberg.org/program/public-health/road-safety