translated from Spanish: Minsal launched campaign to discourage tobacco use in young people

The Under-Secretary of Public Health, Paula Daza, presented together with PAHO/WHO representative in Chile, Fernando Leanes and the mayor of Auñoa, Andrés Zahri, the “#Rompe1Cigarro” challenge, with the aim of reducing tobacco use in children and adolescents, particularly between the ages of 10 and 14.
The initiative invites young people who use social networks to stop smoking and share on the different platforms (Instagram, Tik Tok, among others) a challenge that involves breaking a cigarette creatively.
The protagonists of the campaign are Ignacia Antonia, 17, influencer who stands out for his dance posts in Tik-Tok, with 4.5 million followers, and Instagram, with more than 1,000,000 followers; Tati Fernández, 15, a Chilean dancer with more than 500,000 followers on Instagram and 1.2 million on Tik Tok; and Itay Vargas, 16, dancer and comedian at Tik Tok, with more than 2.3 million followers.
The undersecretary extended the invitation to minors, especially those aged 10 to 14, to accept the challenge. “You have many dreams ahead of you, you have a full life, full of ideas, enthusiasm and things to do. I want to tell you that the cigar can only hinder the path of that life that you have,” he explained.
Currently in Chile, 50 people die a day due to complications from the cigarette consmo. Daza said that in addition, 6 out of 10 children start smoking before the age of 15; and that one in three children smoke cigarettes every day.
The undersecretary emphasized that the idea is that this should not happen with future generations. “We also know that the cigar is damaging the neurons, it is damaging their dreams, the possibility of studying, of learning, it is damaging their heart, lungs, the possibility of being able to run, play, laugh, enjoy life abroad. So the cigar only produces damage,” he stressed.
PAHO/WHO representative Fernando Leanes said that health spending for people affected by tobacco is gigantic. “Chile is the country with the highest health spending and really the measures it has taken since 2013 to date have led to a decrease, but it reaches a point where it is very difficult to move forward,” he added, for which he appreciated the support that young influencers collaborate with n this initiative.
The latest version of the 2016-2017 National Health Survey showed a decrease in the prevalence of tobacco use in the population aged 15 to 65, from 42.2% to 32.5% in the last 15 years.
However, Chile still leads international cigarette use rankings. The latest report of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in the Americas region, our country is first of highest prevalence of consumption in adults and fifth, in young people aged 13 to 15.
Although tobacco use fell among schoolchildren from the basic 8th year to 4th year, from 26.5% in 2013 to about 20% in 2017; the onset of the habit is getting earlier, according to the SENDA. Of the total students who smoke, 65.3% start consumption before the age of 15.
The prevalence of daily tobacco use increases progressively from 8th basic year to 4th year, rising from 1% to 8.8%.

Original source in Spanish