More than a quarter of a million give up smoking in a decade - but more to be done

Stoptober is back and smokers in the North East are being encouraged to give quitting another go – even if they’ve tried before.

Last year, nearly 400,000 smokers in England quit successfully, which is the equivalent to 1,069 smokers each day – one every 80 seconds.

Despite new smokers starting and ex-smokers relapsing, North East smoking rates have fallen by over 44% since 2005 when 29% of North East adults smoked – around a quarter of a million fewer smokers.

Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh, said:

“Most smokers would like to be able to quit. You stand a much better chance if you give quitting a serious go at least once a year until you can stop for good.

“The North East has seen the highest fall in smoking in England, and the best quitting success rates. In 2005, our adult smoking rates were on 29% and we are getting close to halving smoking.

“We’d urge smokers who have struggled to quit before to take heart from the hundreds of thousands of other people who have stopped for good.

“If we are to get smoking down to 10% and under, it will be vital that our GP surgeries and hospitals also play a major part to support smokers to quit with effective treatment.”

Councillor Kim McGuinness, cabinet member for sport, culture and public health at Newcastle City Council said:

“Giving up smoking isn’t always easy but it can be done - and it is never too late to quit smoking to improve your health, your family’s health and your wealth.

“Stoptober is a great time to do this as residents across the city will be taking on their own quit attempts, having the support of the community will help you quit for good."

Six out of 10 smokers want to quit and most try to quit using willpower alone (or ‘cold turkey’). However, the most successful quit attempts use a combination of effective stop smoking support methods.

The best way to quit is with expert help from local stop smoking services together with stop smoking aids. In 2017-18, half (51%) of smokers who got this package of support managed to quit and among those who used an e-cigarette in their quit attempt, the success rate was up to 63%.

New to this year, Public Health England’s Stoptober campaign is offering a free online ‘Personal Quit Plan’ to help smokers find the right stop smoking support for them. The online plan asks a number of questions and provides smokers with a suggested combination of support based on their level of tobacco dependency and what quitting support they have used previously. Smokers will be advised that nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products are most effective when used in combination – an all-day patch together with a fast-acting option such as an inhalator or lozenges to help them deal with any immediate cravings.

Mum-of-two Deborah Davison from South Shields quit smoking after 40 years in January of this year. Since stopping with the help of an e-cigarette Deborah has noticed significant improvements to her health and has saved over £2,000. She has also taken up a new hobby – knitting – providing her with a welcome distraction to smoking.

She said:

“I find knitting very comforting and it’s something to keep my hands busy – so instead of holding a cigarette, I’m doing something which keeps me occupied. I’ve started knitting teddies for friends and I’m finding it so rewarding.

“Before I stopped smoking I was getting very short of breath; now I can walk up three flights of stairs at work fairly easily. I always had a cough; now I don’t have to cough my lungs up on a morning and I rarely cough at all during the day. Generally, I feel much better and a number of people have noticed a difference in me.”

48-year-old dad of three Nathan Freeman from Sunderland stopped smoking after he realised he needed to act before it was too late.

Four months on, after receiving support to quit through his local pharmacy, Nathan is already feeling “immense” benefits to his health enabling him to spend more time with his family.

“When I was younger, I didn’t really think about the damage I was doing to my health. But now I’m getting older, I started to notice that I was struggling for breath when walking uphill and was panting and puffing. I thought, ‘this is ridiculous’ and knew I had to do something about it, not just for me, but for my family.

“In the past, I had thought that I could just stop on my own, but this time I decided to get some support. The staff at the pharmacy have been excellent and understand what you are going through. I find the weekly checks are good for my motivation and there is also financial assistance with nicotine replacement therapies, such as nasal sprays, which I found helpful.

For support and advice on quitting smoking in Newcastle call the Newcastle Stop Smoking Service on 0191 269 1103 or text 07809 105837, email newcastle.stopsmoking@nhs.net or click here.