To mark the 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day today (Wednesday), communities across the Island are being encouraged to help those on their quitting journey. The annual awareness day encourages smokers to make a quit attempt and offers a wide range of advice and support to those wishing to break the habit. Since 1984, this day has played a vital role in reducing smoking by 2/3, working towards the UK’s goal of a smoke-free nation by 2030. There are over 5.3million adults in England who still smoke, and smoking remains the single leading cause of preventable ill health and early death in England. In fact, up to two in three smokers will die as a result of long-term smoking. On the Island, more than 1,000 residents are admitted to hospital each year because of smoking. Simon Bryant, the Island’s director of Public Health, said:
“Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for your health. It’s never too late to quit smoking. When you stop smoking, there are almost immediate improvements to your health. “We know that the majority of smokers want to quit, and with 11,000 smokers living on the Isle of Wight, No Smoking Day continues to be a crucial opportunity for Smokefree Island, your free local stop smoking service, to support those wanting to quit for good.”
This year’s campaign sends a clear message:
- You know you want to quit. We know you can.
- It’s never too late to quit smoking.
- When you stop smoking, there are almost immediate improvements to your health.
It’s much easier to stop smoking when you get the right support and there are lots of options to choose from. Smokefree Island is a service commissioned by the Isle of Wight Council and provided by Solutions4Health. The aims of the service are to provide an expert stop smoking service for the Island community. Councillor Debbie Andre, Cabinet member for Public Health, added:
“There is a wide range of support for those wishing to quit, so you’re not on your own and getting expert support from your local stop smoking services means you’re three times as likely to quit for good. “The 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day is a great opportunity for you to take that vital step forward on your no smoking journey. It’s also a time for us to unite and offer encouragement and support to those on their quitting journey. “If you or someone you know is considering quitting smoking, why not start your journey on No Smoking Day and please do take up the support that is available. Not only will this have a positive impact on your health but also your pocket too.”
For free expert advice on quitting smoking, contact Smokefree Island at 01983 642369 or 0800 999 1396. Alternatively, text “Quit” to 66777″ or visit https://smokefreeisland.co.uk/.
You know you want to quit. We know you can don’t tell me what I don’t want to hear i enjoy smoking i don’t drink or take drugs and drive I pay enough in tax to cover me for 1st Class treatments in an NHS hospital i don’t smoke round other people you interfering busybodies won’t be happy until you ban smoking completely then you will start on people drinking
You say this like quitting smoking is a bad thing. It’s a disgusting nasty habit and the best thing I ever did was quit. You don’t enjoy it all. That’s nonsense. You’re addicted so smoking gives you a satisfying feeling, which is the nicotine tricking your brain. That’s not real enjoyment. And what’s wrong if they ban people drinking? Alcohol is just as bad as smoking and the world would be a better place without it.
Some people won’t be happy until everything is banned. Smoking is bad for you as is heavy drinking but we have the choice in a democracy to do it regardless. What would you ban next? Sport is quite dangerous, mountaineering, rock climbing, skiing, rugby… the list goes on
And that’s how we lose freedom of choice Bob. One person making assumptions and choices for somebody else.
i dont give a s–t what you think i enjoy smoking and this is a free country i can think of a disgusting nasty habit and that is sad s—ts like you and the world would be a better place without you
This is the first time, this year, I’ve become aware of non-smoking day, so well done Island Echo.
Disgusting habit and incredibly expensive nowadays. Give it up and save us all from your stink, and the burden you place on NHS services.
The biggest drain to the NHS is obesity and there’s plenty of that around in this country, they are a disgusting, smelly sight. Tobacco duty receipts that this country picks up covers the cost of any treatments that people may need.
All you smokers out there.You all smell like ashtrays!!!
And Vapers are grown up babies sucking on their dummies
Stupid uneducated B’stards
what burden do i place on the nhs when the gov take £12 in tax a packet from me i bet you drive a car give it up and save us all from your stink i know people who have never smoked but drink like fish and now need new livers the nhs is not poor if there were whey dont thay charge people from out side the uk as they are meant to
YAY, its “lets kick the smokers” time again! Smelly, unhealthy, unsociable and many other classy comments from our social justice warriors.. But wait… where are the comments for a “lets end obesity” day, or “lets stop suicides of kids and young adults” day.. We could always have a “lets see which social issues cost the NHS most” day or even a “lets stop selling booze to kids” day. But no, lets drag the good old “attack smokers” annual vomitorium into the public eye again,,, cos it really works… honest! I suggest you haters actually look to see what costs most, smoking or obesity or alcohol abuse.. would you care to bet which drains the NHS most, and which is expected to drain the coffers more than smokers ever did?
New economic analysis of national data by ASH found that the cost of smoking to society is significantly higher than previous estimates have shown. The actual cost of smoking to society is £17.04 billion for England each year. The total revenues from duty on tobacco products is about £9 billion. Banning smoking would free up 75,000 GP appointments each year. Alcohol costs the NHS an estimated £3.5 billion per year in England and the estimated annual NHS spend on obesity related diseases is £6.5 billion.
So they you go, the actual costs follow the order of: smoking > obesity > alcohol.
This data was provided by ASH.
Other data quotes different figures and amounts.
Obviously one cannot base life on one case, but my mother did not drain the NHS and lived until 89 – a smoker! Smoking is bad for you, but as deaths from Covid have been queried, I am wondering if smoking is also a convenient tag, used by the NHS. If you admit to smoking, you definitely get inferior treatment from the NHS. Everything is blamed on smoking! Never pollution and stinky vehicles!
Been re-evaluated. closer to 98 billion Here’s the quote from the Guardian from Henry Dimbleby, former govt advisor on food. ‘Costs have risen between a previous analysis that Frontier did and the new one because the latter includes the value of health lost due to illness or weight-related disease.
Dimbleby said Rishi Sunak was not interested in trying to tackle obesity and had wrongly chosen to try to eradicate smoking rather than improving dietary health. In 2020, Dimbleby published a government-commissioned blueprint to radically overhaul Britain’s eating.’ It’s still being ignored.
Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they? The £17 billion figure is pure nonsense. It includes a ‘guesstimate’ of lost working days caused by smoking of £13 billion, and fails to take into account the extra state pensions, social care costs, and the extra burden on the NHS that would be caused by people living longer, which stopping smoking would admittedly do. The cost to the NHS caused by smoking related diseases is a fraction of the duty raised on fags. After we go ‘smoke-free’ we will then be forced to give up alcohol, sugar, etc.
Ah statistics etc, strange how an anti smoking group ‘find’ these higher estimates than anyone else…. more than happy to be proved wrong but during my visits to hospital I have seen many drunks in A&E.. Smoking is a nice easy one to attack as we choose to smoke and despite the silly opinions of non (anti) smokers we are rarely even seen on the streets now, and what I choose to do in my own home should be of no interest to anyone else. I dont see similar comments regarding those who prefer a bottle of vodka a day or eating 10,000 calories a day with no exercise.
I did, over on the other news site. Rarely will you see someone in a position of power call out the food industry for producing bad nutritional food which feeds obesity…why? Because it leads to questions of poverty. Smoking, however (also a social deprivation indicator) plays neatly into the narrative that those on benefits clearly get too much money as they can afford to smoke and cost the rest of us taxpayers money in health issues. (Obesity comes a very close second, soon to overtake) Either way, when WAS the last time anyone saw an elite/rich person/politician queuing up either in Iceland, at the fag counter or the NHS? They don’t really care because it will never affect them.
People need to eat to survive, people don’t need to smoke, its a lot more clear cut. Especially when ultra processed foods are a lot cheaper than whole foods.
I quit a good few years ago and as they say “if I knew then what I know now” I would have quit before I started. You can’t guarantee your health, but you can make it better and have a better quality of life without smoking, you really don’t get another chance at life, so as they say don’t **** it up. You can keep kidding yourself smoking makes your life better, more relaxed, it really does not, it just guarantees it will end earlier and probably not in a nice way.
Think how wonderful life is give your self a few more years give it up it’s not easy but those extra years are worth it
Once I connected the addiction to nicotine to the drug telling me I enjoyed smoking (despite me desperately wanting to stop) I found it helped. That is a clever drug. It wants to control us.
No-one enjoys smoking.
No-one wants to be an addict.
Nicotine is an incredibly toxic substance that uses our weakness against us.
I’m 19 years smoke free now and grateful for every day I can inhale properly. I am so smug that I did it despite that filthy drug trying to convince me against my better judgement.
Don’t vape, don’t do patches, just stop, get angry with yourself and your addiction, curse nicotine and it’s pervasive hold, its ability to define who you are, and stop.
Save every penny you spent on cigarettes and treats yourself.
Well said
Why did you smoke if you didn’t enjoy it? I enjoyed every single fag. I stopped 3 years ago for my health, and put on 2 stone!
You obviously have no self-control.
Then how did I manage to stop smoking after 30 years?