> Reducing Tobacco Use
Worldwide, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death, killing 6 million people annually. Internationally, the CDC Foundation is working with the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use to expand CDC’s Global Tobacco Surveillance System to 40 countries. Since the Bloomberg Initiative began in 2007, 31 countries have passed 100 percent smoke-free laws. Through a partnership with Pfizer Inc, the CDC Foundation is helping CDC show the economic impact of smoke-free policies on U.S. businesses.
> Flour Fortification
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies cause serious birth defects and contribute to maternal mortality. Working with partners Cargill, UNICEF, Micronutrient Initiative, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Buhler AG, Bunge Ltd. and General Mills, the CDC Foundation has been a global partner in the Flour Fortification Initiative, more than doubling the number of countries requiring flour fortification with iron or folic acid. In 2012, the Flour Fortification Initiative celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
> Controlling Foodborne Disease
A recent CDC report revealed that norovirus has been the nation’s leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the last decade. A CDC Foundation partnership with North Carolina State University is helping CDC collaborate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to improve tools, skills and capacity to study foodborne viruses. This integrated approach will systematically identify risk factors and develop strategies to reduce contamination from farm to table.
> Hepatitis Testing
One in 30 baby boomers is infected with hepatitis C and most don’t even know it. The CDC Foundation’s $6.25 million Viral Hepatitis Action Coalition has funded a video stories project, a multimedia “Know More Hepatitis” campaign and the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, the largest cohort study of persons in care for viral hepatitis in the U.S. In 2012, CDC recommended that all baby boomers born between 1945 and 1965 should get a one-time test for hepatitis C; the first ever Hepatitis Testing Day was May 19. Testing could identify more than 800,000 people with the disease and ultimately save more than 120,000 lives.
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