PUBLIC health bosses are calling on smokers to quit for good with this year’s Stoptober.

This year’s Stoptober campaign, Let’s Quit Smoking Together reminds people of the local help available. This ranges online advice to tailored 1-to-1 support.

In our Borough, Smoke Free Sefton can offer smokers weekly advice tailored to their needs. They also receive support from a Specialist Practitioner who will help them plan and manage their efforts to give up.

It is a vape and e-cigarette friendly service and can offer a choice of stop smoking medications as well. The Smoke Free Sefton team work alongside the NHS, local pharmacies, and other organisations to support people’s journeys to quitting.

When people contact them, Smoke Free Sefton take time to understand their journey with smoking. This unique approach helps the team provide them with a personalised plan and help them work towards their goal of becoming smoke-free.

Smoke Free Sefton recognise that switching to vaping can be a beneficial step that deliver smokers nicotine without traditional cigarettes’ harmful tar and toxic chemicals. They also know that Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and specialised medications can help to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms, making the journey to quitting easier.

You can find out more about Smoke Free Sefton here.

Stoptober is a national, mass participation stop smoking campaign, created to show smokers that they do not need to be alone on their journey to quitting for good.

According to recent research from the Champs Public Health Collaborative – a partnership of Cheshire and Merseyside’s 9 Directors of Public Health and the NHS Director of Population Health – 50% of smokers living here say they “really want to quit” with a further 21% saying that they know they should.

Around half of smokers (51%) are currently trying to quit or cut down.

The findings also showed how more than 2/3 (64%) have tried to quit before, with 39% having tried to give up more than once, and 13% at least 4 times.

Research shows that, for many people, it takes multiple attempts to quit smoking for good, but millions of people have shown that it is possible, and it is never too late to try again.

Smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable ill health and death, with more than 5 million adults in England still smoking, and 215,000 in Cheshire and Merseyside alone.

It is estimated that smoking costs Cheshire and Merseyside around 1.75 billion per year, in NHS, social care and other costs.

However, smoking rates are coming down, and research shows that, if a smoker manages to stay smoke-free for 28 days, they are 5 times more likely to quit for good.

Dr Sarah McNulty, Director of Public Health for Knowsley and Lead Director of Public Health for Cheshire and Merseyside’s All Together Smokefree programme, said:- “Smoking across Cheshire and Merseyside continues to be a major cause of ill health and early death, and that’s why campaigns like Stoptober are so important. Our research shows that there’s a definite desire among smokers to quit for good, but it can be a daunting task to take on alone. That’s why, during Stoptober, we want to show just how many different ways there are to get help, whether you’re trying to quit for the 1st, 2nd or even 10th time.”

For further information about Smoking Ends Here, visit their website.