The Bloomberg American Health Initiative

In September 2016, Bloomberg Philanthropies made a $300 million gift to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on the occasion of the school’s 100th anniversary. The gift’s purpose was to improve health in the United States by focusing on 5 areas: addiction and overdose, violence, obesity and the food system, environmental challenges, and risks to adolescent health. All 5 areas of focus are serious health problems facing the nation, with deep connections to economic and social factors; none have quick fixes. In making this gift, Bloomberg Philanthropies sought to stimulate broader and more effective public health responses to these problems.