Columbia schools, health department to launch anti-vaping campaign
Officials with the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is leading a campaign to discourage young people from using e-cigarettes and similar products.
Federal health officials are warning users to stop using the devices after hundreds of patients were diagnosed with lung illnesses related to vaping. Over the weekend a California man died from an illness associated with the products, the seventh death associated with e-cigarettes.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said that the state had reported two cases of vaping-related illness.
“We are seeing this epidemic here in Boone County,” said Michelle Shikles, public health promotions supervisor for the county health department. “We’re seeing it in our schools, we’re seeing it on our college campuses, our high schools and even our middle schools.”
The campaign will partner with Columbia Public Schools to target people as old as 21. Officials will put up posters around schools and advertise messages on several social media platforms to describe the negative effects of using vaping products.
Shikles said the campaign will start in the next few weeks and is funded by a $10,000 grant from the Boone County Child Services Fund. The effort is called, Stand Up for Your Health.
“We worked with youth when we were developing this,” Shikles said. “They really wanted the message to be about taking control of your own health.”
Below are pictures of posters that will be used in schools, according to a CPS spokesperson.
