Doctor Sounds Alarm Ahead of Tobacco Vote

Michael Falco for The New York Times - David M. Burns, a pulmonologist and smoking opponent.

A pulmonologist is not waiting for peer review to publish his research contending that cigarettes pose a higher risk of lung cancer than they did before the surgeon general declared them a health hazard in 1964.

Billionaires fight smoking

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pooling their piles of money and pouring $375 million into a global effort to cut smoking. That money goes toward tobacco-fighting campaigns in low- and middle-income countries, most specifically China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Bangladesh. The Bloomberg foundation is also conducting a survey to better understand smoking in those countries.

An interesting effort (I wish they'd spend a few anti-0smoking bucks in Flushing ).

The two philanthropists – who have a combined worth of more than $70 billion – say the new effort will target developing countries where tobacco use is highest.