Smokers urged to stub it out

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SMOKERS in the Vale are being urged to stub their cigarettes out and join a 28-day quitting challenge.

Stoptober, the first ever mass quit attempt launched by the Department of Health, gets underway on Monday, October 1.

The campaign is backed by Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation and is bidding to encourage the nation's eight million smokers to give up.

People who stop smoking for four weeks are five times more likely to stay smoke free and Stoptober will lead smokes through a detailed step-by-step programme to help them achieve this.

Dr Frances Howie, assistant director of public health for NHS Worcestershire, said: "After a fantastic summer of hearing inspirational athletes talk about setting goals and achieving them, here is a chance for smokers to achieve a personal best.

"Giving up smoking is the single most important thing you can do to improve your health and in the current financial climate it is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your finances too."

Anyone who joins receives a preparation pack, 28-day Quit Calendar and Health & Wealth wheel. Smokers will also receive support and encouragement through a daily messaging service, inspiration from celebrity mentors, and expert advice via a Stoptober app available through Smartphones, motivational text messages and a Facebook page.

As well as the financial benefits of stopping smoking, those undertaking the 28 day programme will experience physical improvements including a better sense of smell and taste, and more energy. Longer term, those who stop smoking reduce their risk of heart disease and lung cancer as well as protecting others from their second-hand smoke.

Smoking is one of the biggest avoidable causes of premature death in the UK, and one in two long-term smokers are likely to die prematurely from a smoking related illness.

For more information about Stoptober and to join the biggest stop smoking challenge of its kind, visit smokefree.nhs.uk/Stoptober, www.stopsmokingworcestershire.nhs.uk or call Healthy Lifestyles Hub on 01905 363909 to find the nearest stop smoking service.

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