Time to quit?
As I watch my colleague struggle on day 11 of his titanic battle
to stay off the cigs, I suspect the world will never completely rid
itself of this highly addictive, costly and socially destructive
habit.
As the Government's policy makers continue to wrestle with a
public health problem that kills around 130,000 people a year, I
wonder what message will persuade us to quit for good.
Only last week, I stared into the haunted eyes of around 50
unemployed addicts across Manchester invited to judge our ideas for
the Greater Manchester Public Health Network's latest QUIT-IT
campaign. I asked these smokers what would make them stop.
"Make fags more costly." Good point. An average smoker
spends around £1,650 per year smoking 15 a day.
"Make sure young children don't start." Perhaps a
hard hitting and sustained education programme targeting primary
school children could be the answer.
"Show gruesome death on cigarette packets, posters and
TV." Maybe shock and awe is the answer. Somehow, a cigarette
smoker can't quite equate smoking with their death; it seems a
long way off and if they're lucky, they might get away with it?
"Don't give smokers free NHS treatment." Well this
would certainly save the NHS a great deal of money; an estimated
£2 billion goes towards caring for people with smoking related
problems. However, such a move would be a direct challenge to the
NHS's founding principle of free health care for all.
"Stop all cigarette promotions." While tobacco
advertising and sponsorship is a thing of the past, you will still
find promotions' teams handing out free cigarettes outside
clubs and pubs.
Whatever the solution, let's hope my colleague and the other
28% of the UK population manage to give up, because according to a
recent report by the National Social Marketing Centre, smoking is
costing the UK an estimated £40 billion. Yes that's right,
£40 billion!
If you are a smoker and you need a further reason to quit, try
these: on average, a smoker lives about 9 years less than a person
who has never smoked. Causes of smoking-related deaths include:
cancers of the bladder, oesophagus, larynx, lung, mouth and throat.
Smoking has also been linked to chronic lung disease, heart and
cardiovascular disease, erectile dysfunction and reproductive
problems.
Persuaded?
If you're thinking about quitting, phone the NHS FREE smoking
helpline 0800 022 4332 to find your local stop smoking service.
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