Take the first step to quit on No Smoking Day
The Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA) has developed a new television campaign to count down to No Smoking Day – Wednesday 11 March. The advertisements will be broadcast from today until No Smoking Day and aim to raise awareness of the day and encourage smokers to make a quit attempt and plan to give up for good.
As the impact of the credit crunch starts to bite, many people are feeling the pinch and for smokers, many of whom spend over £2,000 a year on cigarettes, it could be especially tough. This year’s No Smoking Day theme – ‘Take the first step’ – is focusing on the financial cost of smoking which could provide an added incentive for smokers to quit, particularly at this time.
Dr Brian Gaffney, Chief Executive of the HPA, said: “We know that 75% of smokers in Northern Ireland would like to give up and No Smoking Day is an ideal opportunity for them to make a huge impact on their health and overall quality of life by quitting.1 By stopping a 20-a-day habit smokers could save up to £170 a month.
“There is a lot of support available to smokers and those who access support to help them quit double their chances of being successful. Smokers can contact the Smokers’ Helpline on Tel: 0800 85 85 85 which offers free support and advice and can direct them to their nearest smoking cessation service. Smokers can also text ‘QUIT’ to 60900 to receive support by SMS and log on to the HPA’s dedicated smoking cessation website: www.want2stop.info where they can sign up for a personalised quit plan.”
An evaluation of the previous No Smoking Day campaign in Northern Ireland showed that only 6% of smokers were happy with their smoking behaviour, which is an all time low. Awareness remained high, with 80% of respondents aware that it was No Smoking Day. 2
Nearly a quarter (23%) of smokers who were aware of No Smoking Day participated in the day by quitting for a time, cutting down, accessing information about stopping smoking or taking part in an event or competition, and 18% of these smokers said that they had stopped or tried to stop on No Smoking Day, an increase (15%) on the previous year. 2
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Notes to the editor
No Smoking Day is a UK campaign and has been running since 1984. Further information about the NSD campaign is available at: www.nosmokingday.org.uk
For media enquiries contact:
The HPA Press Office on Tel: 028 9031 1611.
1 Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. The continuous household survey 1983-2008. Belfast: NISRA, 2008.
2 Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland. No Smoking Day 2007: Northern Ireland evaluation. Belfast: HPA, September 2007. |
As from 1 April 2009 all Health Promotion Agency responsibilities have been transferred to the