Smokers urged to join stub out this Stoptober

Deputy Mayor Mohammed Zaman, Councillor Jacqui Beswick, MP Tony Lloyd, Tony Harling, Deputy Mayoress Naaira Zaman, Shila Ahmed and Zac Ayres

Smokers are being urged to give up cigarettes this Stoptober as statistics show there’s never been a better time to quit.

Stoptober aims to help smokers give up for 28 days with the use of free online and face-to-face support, as research shows those that do are five times more likely to quit for good.

Rochdale Borough Council is backing the campaign, which coincides with the highest quit success rates seen in at least a decade, to reduce their chances of residents developing smoking-related diseases such as heart disease, cancer and strokes.

According to the University College of London (UCL) quitting success rates are at their highest of 19.8% for the first six months of this year, significantly higher than the average for the last 10 years (15.7%). In the borough of Rochdale 261 people successfully quit for four weeks during the same period.

However, the latest figures from Public Health England (PHE) show that 19.4% of adults in the borough are smokers, which is higher than the national average. So smokers are being encouraged to make the 28 day pledge and help in the council’s ambition of making the borough smoke free.

Councillor Jacqueline Beswick, Rochdale Borough Council’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “Stoptober is a great time for those people thinking about quitting smoking to finally take that great leap towards a healthier future for themselves and their loved ones. There a thousands of people signing up across the country so you can get the support of your peers as well as lots of other support methods to suit you, like our stop smoking service or online help. Whatever your reasons for quitting it is the single best thing you can do to improve your health, so sign up to the 28 day challenge today and increase your chances of quitting for good.”

Stoptober, in its sixth year is championing new quitting aids such as e-cigarettes and plain packaging legislation as reasons why now is a great time for people to kick the habit.
Professor John Newton, director of health improvement at Public Health England, said: “E-cigarettes are now the most popular way to quit in the country with half of all those taking part in Stoptober last year using an e-cigarette. The evidence is clear, vaping is much less harmful than smoking, a fraction of the risk. So if you’ve struggled with quitting before, an e-cigarette may be the best option for you.

“Don’t be put off if you’ve already made several attempts. Join in with Stoptober and benefit from free support direct to your phone, laptop or tablet via the Stoptober app, a daily email giving support or Facebook Messenger, free face-to-face support plus a raft of advice and information on the website. Search ‘Stoptober’ online and join the thousands of others who go smokefree once and for all this year.”

Residents thinking about taking part in Stoptober or looking for resources to help them quit should visit www.rochdale.gov.uk/smoking or contact the stop smoking service on 01706 751190.