As always, the primary aim of Stoptober is to encourage the nation’s smokers to stop smoking for October and beyond. There’s evidence that if a smoker can quit for 28 days, they are five times more likely to quit for good.

The campaign has two strands this year:

• A new approach responding to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it’s had on people’s health behaviours
• A focus on the audiences with two different views and motivations toward making a quit attempt: a primary audience of smokers aged 35 to 60 and a secondary audience of younger smokers aged 18 to 34.

Latest NHS Digital smoking facts:

• 489,300 hospital admissions attributable to smoking
• 77,800 deaths attributable to smoking
• 14.4% of adults are classified as current smoking
• 10.6% of mothers were smokers at the time of delivery.

If that’s not enough - why should I stop smoking?

• You’ll live longer, feel better and have more money to spend on things and activities you like doing, like holidays.
• If you already have a lung condition, stopping smoking is the best step you can take for your health and quality of life. It will help you cope with your symptoms and stop your condition getting worse, e.g. smokers are five times more likely to catch flu.
• It’s never too late to stop, no matter how long you have smoked for. Your lungs will work better, even if you stop when you’re over 60. If you stop smoking when you’re 30, you’re likely to live ten years longer.
• You’ll protect people around you who used to breathe in your smoke. People who breathe in second-hand smoke are at risk of the same diseases as smokers. Second-hand smoke is particularly dangerous to babies and children as their lungs are still developing and are much more vulnerable to breathing in toxic materials.
• Stopping is a key way to protect your children’s health in the long term. Children are much more likely to take up smoking if their parents smoke.

Stop smoking treatments include:

• Nicotine replacement therapy
• Stop smoking medications
• E-cigarettes
• Local stop smoking services.

There may be risks associated with some stop smoking treatments. If you have any queries, speak with your GP or occupational health provider before starting on a programme.

Are you ready to stop?

Take the test.