| Countdown to No Smoking Day for smokers who want
out
Many
smokers say “they want out” of their smoking
habit and today the Health Promotion Agency for Northern
Ireland (HPA) is encouraging them to kick the habit on
No Smoking Day, 10
March, with
a television advertising campaign.
The advertising
campaign commences today featuring a countdown of the number
of days until No Smoking Day. Dr Brian Gaffney,
Chief Executive of the HPA, said: “At
present 29% of the population here smoke. The good news is
that the latest statistics reveal that smoking has decreased
but we need to reduce this even further because smoking is
still the major cause of preventable deaths in Northern Ireland.
“Every
year many smokers set No Smoking Day as the date to give
up.
Research has shown that smokers who have
time to prepare themselves mentally to stop smoking are more
likely to stop for good.”
This
year the theme of the day is, “For smokers
who want out”, and there is a lot of support
out there for smokers who are committed to quitting. The
television
advertising highlights the helpline number, 0800
858585,
which people can
contact for advice and encouragement in their attempt to
break their habit.
Dr Gaffney
concluded: “It’s never too late to
make a quit attempt, in fact stopping smoking before 35 years
of age can reduce a smoker’s health risks to the same
as those of a life-long non-smoker.”
No Smoking
Day is a major event in the health calendar which has been
running for 21years and has helped thousands
of smokers to kick their habit permanently.
The television advertising will run until Wednesday 10 March.
END
Notes
to the editor
- In
Northern Ireland 3,000 people die from illnesses
related to smoking each year.
- Inpatient
care linked to smoking here costs at least £22
million each year and one million working days are lost as
a result.
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