Chile: President Announces Prevention Initiative
The President of Chile Sebastián Piñera has announced the launching of a new prevention initiative in cooperation with Planet Youth.
This project named ‘El Plan Elige Vivir sin Drogas’ is in response to the growing harm substance use is causing the youth of the South American country. The goal of the project is to reduce the rates of substance use and abuse among adolescents in all participating municipalities. The project also aims to build a permanent capacity at all levels that support the implementation of the Icelandic Prevention Approach – Planet Youth.
The project will be run from the SENDA office, in cooperation with Planet Youth experts using their methodology.
To begin with, 44 municipalities in Chile will implement the project. The first step will be to conduct surveys in schools to find the baseline of substance use and the general well-being of adolescents in Chile. Then projects will be implemented aimed at changing the social environment of children and adolescents. These changes will focus on risk and protective factors which are strong predictors of the likelihood of substance use among children and adolescents.
Some believe that this [substance abuse] is a lost battle and are willing to surrender … on the contrary, we are going to fight it with all the instruments of our democracy and our rule of law, in every home, school, street, square and corner of Chile,” said Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, as per Planet Youth.
The Planet Youth methodology was initiated 20 years ago in Iceland, which caused a significant decrease in youth substance use within the country. Iceland went from ranking at the highest for teenage substance use in Europe to the lowest, indicating the efficacy of the Planet Youth approach.
Alcohol Harm in Chile
© WHO Global Alcohol Status Report 2018
In Chile, over half (51.8%) of youth alcohol users between 15 to 19 years binge on alcohol. This is a problematic trend, specially as Chilean men suffer from alcohol use disorder and alcohol dependence more than others in the WHO Americas region.
In this view, implementing the Planet Youth strategy is a step in the right direction to save Chilean youth from alcohol harm. Chile could build on this momentum to further strengthen their alcohol control policy by filling the existing gaps in policy on regulating alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotion as well as implementing health warnings.
