ATHENS – Eight years ago, prominent Lowell, MA businessman George Behrakis launched the antismoking campaign “Smoke Free Greece,” geared toward Greece’s youth. His goal was to reduce smoking among Greece’s youth by 35 percent and to date, he has come very close, cutting smoking by approximately 32 percent. “We know that parents smoke at home, but we are going after the youth Our goal was 35 percent so we are getting there,” he told The National Herald. “You can’t convince somebody at 60, 70, or 80 years old to stop smoking, he is not going to listen. But we are going to convince the young children. They are bright people and they are listening to us and asking questions and we feel very proud and happy because what we have done the past seven or eight years has been very successful.”
Behrakis recently visited Trikala and the Kalambaka, where he presented Smoke Free Greece. He said “I was very impressed with the young people. Over 850 children attended the event organized by my first cousin Dr. Panagiotis Behrakis, PhD, MD, pulmonology professor and physician. We know that smoking will cause major health care problems for people in the future. Today’s tobacco industry has added many, many additives and chemicals in the tobacco and the reason they do that is to addict the young people to smoking, so they continue smoking.
“The program is to educate them, and telling them if you start smoking at a young age you will have major problems when you reach 30, 40, 50 years old. We are trying to educate the young children in Greece and they are listening, they are learning. We have gone to the Peloponnese, Athens, Thessaly, Macedonia… Two weeks ago we went to Trikala and Kalambaka. Every year we chose a specific area.
“Next year we are going to have a big conference in Athens; the European Union will attend.
Behrakis attends these events each year in November, a month he has selected strategically, so that it does not interfere with holidays Greeks celebrate quite enthusiastically, such as Christmas and Easter.
Are Greece’s youth receptive to the message, or do they resist? “I am very impressed with the young children in Greece, they are receptive and they ask many questions, they want answers, and we give them the answers,” Behrakis told TNH. “We have physicians there, we have nurses, and we speak to them in Greek and English. They are very fluent in English as well. These children speak three languages and they are in High School. They speak Greek, English and German and some of them speak French, they are very bright.”
Many want to come to the United States to study, Behrakis said. “The most important thing to do, and we are already doing it, is to give them scholarships,” he said.
The effort has reached 32 percent of the intended 35 percent goal, and Behrakis said “it is a tough call because it took eight years to attain this and you cannot give up. I don’t take no for an answer, I never have. My goal, which was 35 percent, is almost there. I knew it would be between 10 to 12 years and I was willing to support it.”
(Photo: courtesy of George Behrakis)
Does the government of Greece support this initiative? “I don’t want to get involved in Greek politics because I don’t live there. But the Ministers of Health and Education, regardless of political parties, attend the meetings, and give talks. It is a health and an educational issue. We have the full support of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos.”
Behrakis said he was buoyed by Greece’s tourism surge, and he adores Greece and tries to visit as often as possible. “Greece is located in a great geographical area. You have the mainland, but you also have the islands; they are spectacular. My concern is why Greece doesn’t have more industry from countries like Germany, France, England, Belgium, and the Netherlands. I want to see young people staying in Greece. You don’t want to lose the brain power. I have seen many physicians that left Greece, many graduate students.”
When he lands in Greece and sees the Acropolis, he says “everything is spectacular. I am very proud as a Greek-American.”
The post George Behrakis Saves Greek Youth from Smoking appeared first on The National Herald.