A roadmap for better mental health in New York City

Abstract

New York City is frequently at the forefront of public health policy. Aggressive action to combat the dangers of tobacco use, including the 2003 Smoke-Free Air Act, tax policy, and educational campaigns, led to steep declines in smoking rates. 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental HygieneEpiquery: NYC Interactive Health Data System—Community Health Survey 2002–2013. http://nyc.gov/health/epiquery Google Scholar , 2 Coady MH Jasek J Davis K Kerker B Kilgore EA Perl SB Changes in smoking prevalence and number of cigarettes smoked per day following the implementation of a comprehensive tobacco control plan in New York City. J Urban Health. 2012; 89: 802-808 Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar Regulations to improve the food environment, such as labelling about calories in 2006 3 Farley TA Caffarelli A Bassett MT Silver L Frieden TR New York City's fight over calorie labeling. Health Aff (Millwood). 2009; 28: w1098-w1109 Crossref PubMed Scopus (56) Google Scholar and sodium in 2015 4 New York City Department of Health and Mental HygieneSodium Initiatives. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/diseases/salt.shtml Google Scholar and bans on trans fats in 2008, 5 New York City Department of Health and Mental HygieneNotice of Adoption of an Amendment (§81.08) to Article 81 of the New York City Health Code. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/public/notice-adoption-hc-art81-08.pdfDate: 2006 Google Scholar continue to be implemented as a way to tackle a growing obesity epidemic and rise in non-communicable diseases. Mary Bassett: trailblazer for health in New York CityMary Bassett, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, spent 17 years of her early career in Zimbabwe as the AIDS epidemic, of which she had seen the beginnings in her native Harlem, engulfed sub-Saharan Africa. Returning to New York, the most urgent need was a different one: to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) caused by smoking and poor diets. But on both continents, she identified the same underlying issue that she has fought all her life—health inequalities. Full-Text PDF