One in three people aged 18-34 smokes in Luxembourg, according to cancer.lu. “These figures are alarming as there has been a 68% increase over 5 years in young smokers,” the foundation explains in a statement. To bring this rate down, it has since 1999 held yearly competitions to incite students and teachers to take care of their health.

To participate, teachers until 14 October can sign up their classrooms for the challenge. Every month from November 2022 to May 2023, students will be asked to participate in a quiz to test their knowledge on smoking. At the end of the challenge, the classes who have accumulated the most points will be invited to a celebratory event. The top scoring classes will be awarded €1,000, €500 and €250. 

“Our aim is to ensure that today's young people are not tomorrow's smokers, that they understand the effects on their health and, above all, that they are aware of their loss of freedom as a result of their consumption," says Lucienne Thommes, director of the Cancer Foundation. Since the start of the initiative, 62,200 students have participated in the contest. 

Last year, 134 classes, 2,483 students and 96 teachers participated in the event.