Councils on Teesside band together in a bid to stop people smoking

STOPTOBER is back and smokers in Teesside 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 44% since 2005 when 29% of North East adults smoked down to 16.2% of people in 2017 – around a quarter of a million fewer people smoking.

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.”

Edward Kunonga, Director of Public Health for Middlesbrough Council said: “In Middlesbrough over 18.6% of residents smoke. Nearly 300 people die every year in Middlesbrough from smoking related diseases. Although progress has been made these figures are still too high, these deaths are preventable. Quitting smoking is the single most effective thing that people can do to improve their health. I would urge the public to prevent themselves joining these statistics by seizing the Stoptober initiative as an opportunity to take charge of their health by contacting our Stop Smoking Service now."

Councillor Julia Rostron, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: “We fully support the Stoptober campaign. It complements the many initiatives already taking place in Middlesbrough to raise awareness of the hazards of smoking and to help people to quit. Our excellent local stop smoking service is readily accessible and has designed many different ways to make it as easy as possible for people to finally kick the habit. Use Stoptober to start your quitting journey today.”

Councillor Lynn Pallister, Cabinet Member for Health, Housing and Welfare, at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council said: “We will support any campaign that can give people that extra encouragement to give up. Smoking is still the country’s biggest single cause of premature death with smokers losing an average of 16 years of life and it’s vital we get the number of smokers down. I would urge people to attend our specialist Community Stop Smoking clinics, including one at Redcar Library, where they can get excellent advice and support.”

Dr Peter Brambleby, Hartlepool Borough Council’s Interim Director for Public Health, said: “We’re delighted to once again be supporting this year’s Stoptober campaign, encouraging smokers in Hartlepool to kick the habit for good.

“Recent research shows that almost 2,300 years of potential life are lost because of smoking-related illnesses in Hartlepool, whilst smoking-attributable hospital admissions are at an eight year high. The earlier a smoker quits, the better it is for their long-term health.

“No two people are the same, and therefore it’s important that smokers make a quit attempt with the support most suited to them. There is a wide range of quit aid choices available to choose from, so sign up today to take the Stoptober challenge and make this attempt your last.”

Councillor Jim Beall, Stockton-on-Tees’ Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said: “Stopping smoking is one of the single most beneficial things that you can do for your own health, your family’s health and your wallet, but it isn’t always easy.

“That’s why we support the Stoptober campaign as a way to encourage people to make healthy choices and remind people of the help that is available throughout the year. Why not take the first step and join in the Stoptober challenge – with the right support, you too can 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.

Great-grandmother Linda Allen, from Middlesbrough, has tried to quit smoking several times after being diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in 2005. This summer she received help from Stop Smoking South Tees and is now determined to remain smoke free.

Linda said: “I’ve smoked for fifty years, as I started smoking when I was around fourteen or fifteen. When I left school I started working in a factory and everybody smoked. It was the thing to do back in in the sixties. I never really thought about it, as everyone I knew smoked including friends and family.

“I smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day, but sometimes it was even more. I often struggled to sleep, so on those days I could easily smoke up to 30 cigarettes as I would end up opening a second packet. I smoked at work and at home, and never thought about the impact it was having on my health. I never even had any intentions to quit.”

In 2005, Linda received a diagnosis she wasn’t expecting after suffering with breathlessness – she had smoking related COPD.

Linda added: “Being diagnosed with COPD was a shock, as I never thought it would happen to me. Knowing that it has been caused by my smoking makes me wish I had stopped sooner. It is really difficult as I am out of breath most of the time and can only walk a short distance. I even find walking from my kitchen to the lounge in my flat hard work.

“I know I will never get better, so I am determined to quit smoking this time. Over the last 10 years I have tried to quit three times but have never been successful. I did manage to cut down on how much I was smoking, but I ended up starting again.

“I live on my own, so it is difficult to keep yourself motivated. However, when my health started to deteriorate a few months ago I knew I had to do something. I went to see my GP who told me that my breathing was only half of what it should be and he advised me to stop smoking.”

Linda has been receiving smoking cessation support through her local stop smoking service and just 12 weeks after quitting, Linda says she is already feeling the benefits.

“Following my GP’s advice I got help from the stop smoking service at the Live Well Centre, at Dundas House, Dundas Shopping Centre in Middlesbrough, the same week. I signed up for the 12-week support programme and it has been fantastic.

“After two weeks I noticed an improvement in my general health and now I feel much better. I have even gained weight, which is a good thing for me as I have always been small despite having a big appetite. I used to weigh six and a half stone but I’m now 7 stone 3lbs, which is great. I know it sounds strange but I do feel healthier and now I’ve seen an improvement I’m determined to remain smokefree.”

Stoptober is based on research that if you can make it to 28 days smokefree, you are five times more likely to quitfor good. The new Personal Quit Plan will recommend a range of options to smokers including face-to-face support, nicotine replacement therapies like patches, gum or inhalers, and e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes remain the nation’s favourite stop smoking aid, with an estimated 3.2 million adult users in Great Britain. Over time, the proportion who are ex-smokers has risen and over half (52%) of current vapers have stopped smoking completely. A further 900,000 people have given up both smoking and vaping.