Bulgaria: Ministry of health broadcasts 14th edition of ‘National Student Competition’

The Bulgarian Ministry of Health announces the 14th edition of the National Student Competition “Ambassadors of Health” on November 20, 2022, in honour of International No Tobacco Day. 

This competition is held in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Science, Environment and Water, Youth and Sports, and Culture, as well as the Office of the World Health Organization for Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Youth Red Cross, and the National Center for Public Health and Analysis.

November 17 is recognised as international No Tobacco day worldwide. On this day, the Ministry of Health urges all smokers to make an effort to stop for the benefit of their own health and the health of any friends and family members who may be present in the area and may be passive smokers.

 The World Health Organization estimates that smoking claims the lives of one person every four seconds worldwide. More than 7 million of these fatalities are related to smoking directly, whereas 1.2 million include nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke. 

The four most prevalent non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory illness, and diabetes, are all intimately linked with tobacco smoking.

Over the age of 20, 34.5% of Bulgaria’s population smokes every day (according to preliminary data from the 2020 National Health Risk Factors Survey of the National Health Commission).

It’s still a problem that majority of teenagers are possessed with smoking. According to the study’s findings, 26.3% of respondents have tried smoking, with slightly more females (26.8%) than boys (25.6%) doing so.

Smokers who have smoked one or more days in the past month make up about every fifth child, with females having a slightly higher relative share (17.3% vs 16.4%). According to the distribution by age group, smoking is substantially more prevalent among those aged 15 to 19 (31.4%) than among those aged 10 to 14 (4.0%).