Region’s cigarette users urged to take back their lives this No Smoking Day
The NHS in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire is urging people who smoke to quit the habit to improve their health and reclaim the time that cigarettes are stealing from their lives.
No Smoking Day, which falls each year on 12 March, is an opportunity for those cigarette users who would like to improve their health, as well as their overall life expectancy, to quit the harmful habit for good.
One in ten adults living in the region smoke on a daily basis, which means approximately 100,000 local people are at risk of developing serious life-limiting illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
And with each cigarette taking up to 20 minutes off a person’s life, the average 20-a-day smoker could be cutting their own life short by more than six and a half hours every day.
Dr Barry Coakley, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, said: “Stopping smoking is the best thing people can do for their health, and it’s never too late to quit.
“When somebody stops, the benefits to their health and wellbeing, such as reduced blood pressure and better circulation, begin almost immediately.
“Any person taking the first steps to quitting this No Smoking Day should know that help and support is available, either from our local councils or through the free NHS Quit Smoking App, which can offer personal quit plans and advice various stop-smoking aids, such as vapes.”
As well as improving overall health, people stopping smoking can expect to see their finances take better shape too, as the average quitter usually saves around £2,500 in their first year as a non-smoker.
Free help for people wanting to quit smoking is available in all parts of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, with each local authority offering a range of services and support options.
- In Bath and North East Somerset, stop smoking support can be found at www.bathneshealthandcare.nhs.uk or by calling 0300 247 0050.
- In Swindon, information and advice, including how to access the support of a stop smoking coach, can be found at www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20139/live_well_swindon.
- In Wiltshire, people can find help and support, including an offer of six months of free access to the Smoke Free app, at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/smokefree.
Through its Better Health website, the NHS also has an extensive selection of resources available to help all smokers, from those giving up for the first time to people keen to give it another go, to quit for good.
Some of the help available includes daily motivational emails, personalised quit plans, listings of local in-person support groups and advice on how to transition from cigarettes to vapes.
Further information on the negative health impacts caused by smoking, along with links to other quitting resources, can be found at www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking.