Declining Life Expectancy & the Power of Public Health

Two years ago, in the face of grim news that life expectancy in the United States was declining, Bloomberg Philanthropies gave the school of public health a transformational gift to create the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. The goal was straightforward but daunting: use the tools of public health to address some of the issues that are driving the decline: Addiction and overdose, Environmental Challenges, Obesity and the Food System, Risks to Adolescent Health, and Violence. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the Initiative and about a new journal supplement that takes an in depth look at the five focus areas and provides a road map for how public health and other sectors can work to tackle these challenges.