Ahead of World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, the NHS in North Yorkshire and York wants to raise awareness of the dangers and health risks of smoking tobacco.

In England, around 60% of smokers want to quit, 10% of which intend to do so within three months. Currently, around half of all smokers in England try to quit unaided using willpower alone, despite this being the least effective method.

Getting support can greatly increase someone’s chances of quitting successfully.

Dr Peter Billingsley, NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body GP, said: "When you quit smoking, it reduces your risk of illness, disability or death caused by cancer, heart or lung disease. It will protect the health of the people around you by reducing their exposure to second hand smoke and it will also save you money.

"While quitting can feel stressful in the short term, research shows that many ex-smokers physical and mental health improves six weeks after quitting.

"Things like Nicotine Replacement Therapy and Varenicline have all been shown to improve a smoker's chance of successfully quitting by reducing the extent to which smokers experience withdrawal. These medications do not completely eliminate the symptoms of withdrawal and behavioural support can help smokers to manage those withdrawal symptoms that remain."

Free local support across North Yorkshire and York is available through North Yorkshire County Council’s Living Well Smokefree service. 

Living Well Smokefree has a team of advisors who have plenty of experience in helping people to stop smoking for good. They will see anyone from the age of 12 and have community-based locations across North Yorkshire. They can be contacted via telephone on 01609 797272 or via email on stop.smoking@northyorks.gov.uk . More information is available on their website: https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/stopping-smoking

If you live in the Vale of York you can access support via the City of York Counsilsmoking service: https://www.york.gov.uk/StopSmoking

Further support on how to quit smoking can be found on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/

You can also download the Public Health England personal quit plan here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/for-your-body/quit-smoking/personal-quit-plan/

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