Stoptober 2013 – be part of the challenge
Smoking is the biggest cause of premature death in England accounting for over 80,000 deaths each year, with one in two long-term smokers dying prematurely from a smoking disease. It is also estimated to cost the UK around £5 billion per year, primarily though lost productivity and absenteeism.
As part of the Trust’s Help Yourself to Health campaign we are encouraging all smokers to take up the 28-day challenge and quit smoking. After its launch last October, Stoptober helped hundreds of thousands of people to quit smoking for 28 days, and if you quit for that length of time you are five times more likely to quit for good.
The campaign was a huge success in 2012 producing these results nationally:
- It reached 6.5 million smokers and challenged them to quit
- 1.3 million smokers visited the Stoptober website and 235,000 went on to make a quit attempt
- Of those who made a quit attempt over 160,000 successfully completed the 28-day challenge
At GMW we want to be able to play our part in helping people lead healthier lives and reduce the health risks that accompany smoking. So if you do smoke, why not see if you can complete the 28-day challenge during Stoptober and Help Yourself to Health!
For more information go to: https://stoptober.smokefree.nhs.uk
