For the next 18 months, Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with the World Health Organization and Vital Strategies, will be working with cities across the globe to tackle the different factors contributing to noncommunicable diseases. [...] The program will be very much city-driven; local governments will have leeway on what intervention to prioritize and work on. WHO and Vital Strategies, meanwhile, will provide assistance and help them make use of data to guide their decisions as well as in developing their work plans.

When Australia’s Foreign Minister announced a $15 million contribution to Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Data for Health initiative in March 2015, the program became a key way for Australia to improve outcomes of its overseas health aid. [...] Data for Health is showing its worth, allowing the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other partners to work with governments in developing countries on evidence-based health policies.

Two weeks ago we looked at Beijing's continuing efforts to maintain control of both its mainstream and social media scene. This week, we delve deeper into the country's relationship with the international media and the concerns authorities have inside China about how the country is covered from the outside. On November 7, it was reported that the US-based financial news agency, Bloomberg, had self-censored reports on the business ties of senior government officials because of the implications the stories could have on Bloomberg's working relationships within the country.

I've written many times over the years, and still believe, that the news out of China is more good than bad. (For details: here, here, and here by me, plus this nice photo feature yesterday from Matt Schiavenza.) But the bad news is real, and needs to be reported -- and shakiness on this point is what has gotten the Bloomberg organization into what appears to be big trouble.

The decision came in an early evening call to four journalists huddled in a Hong Kong conference room. On the line 12 time zones away in New York was their boss, Matthew Winkler, the longtime editor in chief of Bloomberg News. And they were frustrated by what he was telling them. The investigative report they had been working on for the better part of a year, which detailed the hidden financial ties between one of the wealthiest men in China and the families of top Chinese leaders, would not be published.