Saying no to vaping

The City of Greater Geelong has received a $200,000 VicHealth Vaping Prevention Grant to lead the Barwon South West Vaping Prevention Coalition.

Joining VicHealth and more than 40 organisations across the state, the city will take part in the initiative to empower young people to say no to vaping.

The $2 million Vape-Free Victoria initiative, will see local councils, universities, sporting bodies, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Quit Victoria and the Victorian government come together to help young people understand the harms of vaping.

Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said the city’s Youth Council had played a key role in opening a dialogue on the topic of vaping and the city was grateful for funding for the “vital” program.

“Our Youth Council has told us that vaping is a growing concern for young people in the community and it is an issue that we acknowledge needs to be addressed.”

The Barwon South West Vaping Prevention Coalition is a partnership with the Barwon South West Public Health Unit (PHU), local councils, health services and community organisations in the Greater Geelong, Colac Otway, Surf Coast, Corangamite, Warrnambool and Glenelg local government areas.

Activities for the project will be co-designed with community members between the ages of 12 and 25 with the aim of increasing awareness of the harms of vaping and their capacity to reject it.

Barwon South West PHU acting director Dr Akhtar Hussain said it was important to have young people from across the region co-design the development of a program.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in vaping over the past few years, especially among young people.

“This initiative is a great example of how stakeholders from across the Barwon South West can work together to improve the health and wellbeing of our community.”

The initiatives put in place will be designed to achieve sustained and embedded change.

For support to help stop vaping, head to quit.org.au