Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times  Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg addressed the United Nations about his health policies on Tuesday.  Early in his political career, Michael R. Bloomberg confessed that a few positions interested him besides mayor of New York, including president of the World Bank and secretary general of the United Nations.  On Tuesday, he could at least pretend to have crossed another conquest off his list as he stood before the United Nations and delivered a speech on his administration’s health agenda.  It was a chance for him to celebrate New York’s successes on a world stage, a few days after his administration released data showing the eroding effects of the financial crisis on city life: more violent crime, more people on food stamps and fewer summer jobs for youths.  And while he did not deliver the soaring cadences of the Gettysburg Address, he was not above giving advice to the world. He took full advantage of the opportunity to brag, to indulge in his inner scold and to give a plug to Bloomberg Philanthropies and his alma mater, Johns Hopkins, for their work on public health.  Through his administration’s relentless focus on public health, Mr. Bloomberg told the gathering, New Yorkers had seen their life expectancy rise by more than a year and a half, to more than 79 years, faster and higher than for Americans over all. “And I believe all nations worldwide can achieve similar success,” he said.  Mr. Bloomberg spoke as delegates wrapped up a two-day summit on noncommunicable diseases, like heart disease, lung disease, cancer and diabetes, before the General Assembly convenes Wednesday to discuss matters like the Palestinian bid for recognition as a state.  The summit gave chronic disease the same level of attention that had previously been given to H.I.V. and AIDS. In speeches, speakers said the risk factors for noncommunicable diseases — lack of exercise, a diet high in sugar, salt and saturated fats, smoking, alcohol abuse — had spread through developing countries, adding to the burden of lost productivity and health care costs already imposed by infectious diseases.  The United Nations discussion sounded a lot like a meeting of the city’s health department, as speakers talked about the merits of taxing sugary drinks and cigarettes and convincing the food industry to reduce salt in processed foods.  In his speech, Mr. Bloomberg said he had learned that if the government changed the environment, for instance by banning smoking in bars or reconfiguring streets to make them safer, changes in behavior would follow. “Second, and very importantly in today’s world, healthy solutions are not necessarily costly solutions,” the mayor said. “Far from it. New York’s Smoke-Free Air Act, our restrictions on trans fats and our requirements concerning calorie posting in restaurants cost virtually nothing in public money to put into effect. And cigarette taxes raise public revenues.”  Mr. Bloomberg had been invited to speak because of his “projects dealing with noncommunicable diseases and their causes,” a spokesman for Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the General Assembly, said.  There is evidence that New York City-type efforts had been catching on even before the United Nations took up the subject. In his speech, Mr. Bloomberg cited recent antismoking efforts in São Paulo, Brazil, and in Turkey, Nepal, Lebanon, Argentina and Ecuador.  As for that job the mayor coveted, he seems to be practicing, just in case. This was his fifth time speaking at the United Nations, after doing so in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2010.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told a gathering at the United Nations that his administrationâs public-health initiatives had helped increase city residentsâ life expectancies.