Belmonte takes part in London health summit

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and her delegation participated in the recently concluded Partnership for Healthy Cities Summit in London, United Kingdom, aimed at improving the response of city governments to health crises and in addressing non-communicable diseases and injuries.

Held on March 15, the summit was organized by Bloomberg Philanthropies, World Health Organization (WHO), Vital Strategies and the city of London.

Joining Belmonte during the summit were Councilors Aly Medalla and Bernard Herrera as well as officials of the city’s health department and climate change and environmental sustainability department.

In a statement, the city government said the summit was attended by city officials from all over the world“to improve the health of their citizens and combat the global burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries.”

Belmonte and other city mayors who participated in the summit visited the Bloomberg European head office in London, where they met with businessman and philanthropist Mike Bloomberg, co-founder of Bloomberg Inc. and a WHO global ambassador for non-communicable diseases and injuries.

In a separate statement, the city government said Belmonte also met with C40 Cities executive director Mark Watts to discuss “possible partnerships and potential programs” under C40 Cities.

The C40 Cities is a network of over 100 leading cities in the world working together to mitigate the effects of climate change and promote climate justice. The Quezon City government has been one of its active members since 2015.