According to EC Eurobarometer for 2021, 38% of Bulgarians over 15 y. are smokers. Eurostat data for 2019 indicate that BG is in 1st place in the EU in terms of the number of daily smokers. Through the 3-year "The Capables" campaign, AstraZeneca aims to raise awareness of the harms of smoking and to motivate young people in BG towards a healthier lifestyle. Through the faces of the campaign: 5 successful young Bulgarians in different fields, the initiative reveals that everything is possible if you are healthy. In 2022, 2 new outstanding talents joined the activities that increased the engagement of students, teachers & parents. The project ends with creation of the comic-novella The Capables, which will include new characters selected via competition among students across the country.

The target group is students aged 10-16, their teachers and parents. Through a set of training materials, teachers, whose role is key to the success of the initiative, are provided with a project methodology on how to conduct a full-fledged "Class Hour" on the topic and encourage students to be aware of the harms of smoking. We involve parents as well as our employees who are also ambassadors for the campaign.

The Capables is a three-year program and is part of AstraZeneca's global initiative "Young Health Programme", aimed at preventing and limiting chronic diseases among young people around the world. The creative and valuable idea with the potential to impact audiences helped Bulgaria to be one of the 26 countries at the time to receive funding from the group.

The strength of the project lies in the concept of sustainability and effective influence on attitudes. The "Capables" program is based on setting a good example through the stories of 7 talented children in the field of sports and art. Their fantastic skills, the result of healthy living and exercise, are presented to students in the form of engaging videos. At the end of each video, the young talent turns into an animated superhero and delivers the message of the campaign - "Be one of the Capables, superheroes don't smoke!". The key here is the involvement of students in the program, for this purpose in 2023 the heroes of the campaign will issue a challenge to them - to show through a video what they are best at. This will happen through the "Reveal Your Power!" contest. The winners will become part of the comic-novella "THE CAPABLES", along with the other characters. Key to the success of the campaign in its first 2 years is our partnership with the Association "Parents" and the Foundation "Тeach for Bulgaria". In 2022, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Regional Directorates of Education and Health, the BRC and dozens of media supported too.

Within 2 years, 1066 lessons have been implemented during "Class Hour", thus we have reached: - over 30,000 young people from all over the country - over 1,800 teachers - over 20,000 parents. - Through media campaigns in 2022 we reached: - 200,000 children and young people aged 10-24 - 800,000 people aged 24-64. We also reached dozens of media and opinion leaders through more than 20 initiatives such as: - World No Tobacco Day in cooperation with the British Embassy in Sofia - Participation in FILM FORGE SCHOOL event - Nu Boyana Film Studios - two summer academies at the Teach for Bulgaria Foundation - presentation of the project at a conference of the No smoking Coalition - is presented to the NHIF (organized by the Ministry of Health)