NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Mayor Eric Adams announced a health initiative Wednesday, HealthyNYC, that aims to increase the life expectancy of New Yorkers to 83 by 2030.
Adams and other health officials announced the plan at Brooklyn Bridge Park Wednesday afternoon, acknowledging the 2020 drop in life expectancy to 78, following 2019’s all-time-high life expectancy of 82.6.
According to the campaign website, this drop was the biggest and fastest lifespan drop in a century, and it was not felt equally among all New York City communities. The largest decreases were found among Black and Latino New Yorkers.
“While COVID-19 was the driver of this, as I indicated, it wasn't alone. Mental health crises, violence, chronic disease and overdose crises have caused life expectancy to fall further, taking too many New Yorkers too soon,” Adams said.
HealthyNYC is a holistic campaign aimed at making improvements in key areas like chronic and diet-related diseases, mental health, COVID-19, homicide and maternal mortality, the campaign website explains.
“It is a comprehensive plan that seeks to elevate our city's well-being in every aspect. It is a five year agenda that requires the health department to review and update every five years until our goals are reached,” Councilmember Lynn Schulman, chair of the Council’s Health Committee, said at the press conference.
Schulman added that the time period is in place because “The desire for a healthier New York exists beyond our tenures, all of our tenures in city government.”
The campaign acknowledges specific goals in each of these key categories and their subcategories, the HealthyNYC report explains.
By 2030, HealthyNYC aims to decrease heart- and diabetes-related deaths by 5%, screenable cancer deaths by 5%, drug overdose deaths by 25%, suicide deaths by 10%, COVID-19 deaths by 60%, homicide deaths by 30% and maternal mortality rates by 10%.
HealthyNYC's approach focuses on providing services and connections to people at higher risk and those impacted by structural inequities, which manifests in initiatives like increasing access to naloxone, increasing access to healthy food and expanding healthcare access.
“New Yorkers know this, but for too long government at every level has acted like and certainly spent like health is an individual choice. Well, it certainly is a choice, but it's one that we have to make together not just as everyday New Yorkers, but as institutions and organizations that make up this great city,” Dr. Ashwin Vasan, Commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said.
More information about HealthyNYC’s goals and initiatives can be found here.