Fighting to Keep New Yorkers Healthy
by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York City has so much to offer that makes life here a pleasure. Good health is fundamental to being able to enjoy them all. And the good news is that, as a city, New Yorkers are healthier than ever.

Our City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports that, for the first time since the end of World War II, New Yorkers today are, on average, living longer than people in the rest of the United States. Over the last ten years, the death rate for New Yorkers under the age of 65 has fallen by an amazing 40%, and it's continuing to go down.

Why? Well, healthier lifestyles certainly play a big part. Reduced tobacco consumption is a prime example. Recent Health Department surveys show that today about 130,000 fewer of us are smoking than were two years ago. Combine that with the benefits of making all our workplaces smoke-free, and that translates into 40,000 New Yorkers who will, on average, live 14 years longer than they otherwise would.

We're also reducing major environmental health hazards. Take lead paint poisoning. While still far too prevalent in low-income communities, new cases of lead poisoning among children have fallen by 82% since 1995. Although a well-meaning but ill-considered measure recently enacted by the City Council complicates our efforts on this issue, our Administration will do everything we can to reduce childhood lead poisoning by at least another two-thirds in the next five years.

Then there's the heartening progress we're making in the struggle against HIV and AIDS. In 1993, about 7,000 New Yorkers died from AIDS; last year, there were fewer than 2,000 AIDS deaths here. That's still far, far too many-and it's why we're working to make New York a national model in detecting and stopping the spread of AIDS. And with the opening of a model client services office last week, our HIV-AIDS Service Administration took a major step forward in making its operations more efficient and customer-oriented. That's one way we're working to enhance the health, and the quality of life, of New Yorkers who are living with AIDS.

In fact, New York has a detailed agenda for improving the health of us all. Developed by the Department of Health, it's called "Take Care New York." It sets out a ten-point personal health plan that every New Yorker can adopt, from having a doctor you trust, to making sure that youngsters are immunized against early childhood diseases, to maintaining healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels.  Following the action steps outlined in "Take Care New York" will ensure that the lives of thousands of New Yorkers won't be needlessly shortened by cancer, diabetes, drug use, and other causes.

From vastly improving the quality of care in our public hospitals to dramatically enhancing restaurant compliance with Health Code standards, our Administration is working to make New York a healthier place to live. Find out what you can do to help. Read about "Take Care New York" by going to the City's web site at nyc.gov. And call the Citizen Service Hotline at 311 to get a free "Passport to Your Health" that will help you track the most important things you can do.#