The City of Greater Geelong will lead a coalition aiming to help young people say no to vaping.
The council has received a $200,000 VicHealth Vaping Prevention grant to lead the Barwon South West Vaping Prevention Coalition.
The coalition is a partnership between the City, Barwon South West Public Health Unit as well as other councils, health services and community organisations from Geelong to the South Australian border.
Part of Vape-Free Victoria, VicHealth’s $2 million initiative to tackle youth vaping, it aims to help inform young people about the dangers of vaping and empower them to say no.
The project will invite community members aged between 12 and 25 to co-design the activities the coalition intends to implement.
Barwon South West Public Health Unit acting director Dr Akhtar Hussain said he was excited about the initiative and emphasised the importance of having young people involved as part of the development of the education and support resources.
“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,” Dr Hussain said.
“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in vaping over the past few years, especially among young people.
“It is really important to have young people from across our region work together to co-design the development of a program of action to support people aged 14-25 to understand the impact of vaping on their health and wellbeing.”
In June this year Geelong’s Youth Council presented recommendations to their senior counterparts to help combat the growing prevalence of vaping among young people.
Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan said the Youth Council had helped start the conversation on vaping across the region.
“We are grateful to the Victorian Government for its funding of this vital program,” Mayor Sullivan said.
“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.”
Member for Geelong Christine Couzens said vaping was a serious health issue, particularly for young people.
“Having members of the community aged between 12 and 25 engaged in the program design greatly increases the chances that their peers will listen to the message about vaping harm,” Ms Couzens said.
