Mission: To make health a top priority for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Objectives:

• To demonstrate the short-term negative effects of continued smoking.
• To challenge some of the misinterpretations young people may have about smoking.
• To highlight the benefits of not smoking.
• To raise awareness of the dangers of passive smoking and to provide information about a smoking ban in Northern Ireland.
• To introduce facts about the dangers of drug and alcohol misuse.
• To provide contact details for organisations that promote positive mental health.
   

Background:
Smoking is the largest preventable cause of ill health and premature death contributing to lung cancer, heart disease, bronchitis, asthma and many other diseases. In December 1998 the Government published Smoking kills, A white paper on tobacco which set out a comprehensive plan of action for reducing smoking in the UK. One of the objectives of the paper was to reduce smoking among children and young people under the age of 16.

The DHSSPS commissioned the HPA to develop and implement a programme of public information to support the White Paper. The first phase of the programme focused on the under 16 age group, specifically 12-14 year olds. This age group was chosen because studies had shown that smoking rates peak between the ages of 12 and 14. The HPA developed a campaign that included television, radio and cinema advertising supported by a helpline for young people. Click here to read about the ‘Up-2-You’ campaign.

The website:
A website was developed as part of the ‘Up-2-You’ campaign: www.up-2-you.net. The name of the website and campaign slogan, 'Up-2-You', acknowledges that it is the responsibility of young people themselves to make their own, informed, choices regarding smoking and other issues.  Research with young people indicated that illness caused by smoking was not perceived by young people as relevant. It concluded that it was more important to make them aware of the immediate short-term effects of smoking. The website therefore focused on effects such as addiction, the financial impact of smoking, the smell on breath and clothes and the impact on ability to participate in sports.

In March 2001, following evaluation of phase 1 of the ‘Up-2-You’ campaign the website was redesigned and the original television advertisement revised and extended to promote the website. The website was also promoted via postcards inserted in popular teen magazines and mousemats distributed to the IT departments in schools.

In March 2003 the website was further developed to include facts on drug and alcohol misuse. Advice promoting positive mental health and contact details for appropriate organisations were also added to the website. A competition was developed and promoted to school children across Northern Ireland by posters and postcards. Prizes included a VIP makeover and day out for two winners. Information found on the Up-2-You website was used to enter the competition. The competition received 1,500 entries.

The competition was successful in driving traffic to the Up-2-You website and engaging the target audience. The competition was repeated in 2004 and 2005 and received over 3,000 entries each time. For the 2004 competition the website was developed to include information on the health risks of passive smoking and for 2005, new information about smoking bans was added. Prizes for these competitions included iPods, camera mobile phones and vouchers for sports and clothes shops.

Evaluation:
90% of users would recommend the Up-2-You website to their friends and 86% of users rated the website as good or very good with 93% of users saying they would come back to the Up-2-You website and 75% saying they would use the website outside of school.