Smoking kills 600 residents each year (From Bucks Free Press)

Smoking kills 600 residents each year

10:49am Friday 19th March 2010 in

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MANY smokers across Buckinghamshire set No Smoking Day (March 10) as their date to quit smoking.

For a quarter of a century, No Smoking Day has been the biggest public health event of its kind, with almost one million smokers quitting on the day, each year.

NHS Buckinghamshire marked the day with a week of action, raising awareness of the dangers of smoking, offering advice, poster competitions and running extra stop smoking clinics.

This year, we also focused on people who may not usually access NHS services, and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups.

As well as visiting shopping centres with a high footfall, stop smoking advisors targeted smokers around taxi ranks, mosques and community venues to reach out to people who would not typically access support.

Support is still available for those who are still struggling to quit.

Quitting smoking isn’t easy, but the benefits to your health and life are huge.

When people quit smoking they reduce their risk of developing serious illnesses such as cancer or heart disease.

Smokers can also save money and improve the health of their wallet. Someone who smokes 20 cigarettes a day can save around £2,000 per year when they give up.

Smoking remains the single greatest cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK.

In Buckinghamshire, around 64,000 people still smoke, and over 600 residents die each year as a direct result of smoking.

The good news is that thousands of people across the UK do break free from smoking every year.

You are up to four times more likely to stop smoking with support from an NHS stop smoking adviser, and NHS smoking cessation services have helped over 12,000 people in the county quit over the past decade.

Buckinghamshire NHS Smokefree Support Service delivers support to local people by:

• Offering one to one support for up to 8 weeks
• Working with employers and workplace groups
• Telephone support
• Increasing availability of nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum etc)

To find a support service near you call 084527 07222, email: stopsmoking@buckspct.nhs.uk or visit our website at: http://www.smokescape.org.

Joanne Wilson, Public, Health Practitioner, NHS Buckinghamshire.