As Stoptober, a national campaign to get people to stop smoking over the month of October, looms, figures show that smoking rates in England are dropping at the fastest rate in over a decade.
Currently there are around 200 fewer smokers an hour, according to the University College London (UCL), and Public Health England (PHE) is encouraging all smokers to follow suit and join in with the nation’s biggest quit attempt, which begins on 1 October 2019.
Research by the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training has shown that while many smokers want to quit, they face common barriers including procrastination and a fear of failure. To help smash these common barriers, smokers can get expert face-to-face support from local stop smoking services. As a result, those who do are three times as likely to quit successfully than those who try to quit using willpower alone.
Adult smoking rates fell 2.2% from January to July 2019, and not smoking is now the norm in England, but despite smoking rates being lower than ever before, millions still smoke across the country.
GOV UK also reminds that GPs and pharmacists can also give advice and tips to help smokers quit, including what stop smoking aids might be right for them.
Yvonne Doyle, director for Health Protection and medical director at PHE, said that the data is “really encouraging”, but that the public has “still got a way to go to achieve our ambition of a smoke-free society.”
She continued, “Giving up smoking is the best thing a smoker can do for their health and it can also help save money – in just 28 days smokers will start to notice so many benefits.”
