Launched in 2012, Stoptober is the 28-day stop smoking challenge from Public Health England that encourages and supports smokers across England towards quitting for good.
Dr Chris Elliott, a local GP and Chief Clinical Officer for NHS Sutton Clinical Commissioning Group , said local people could sign up to Stoptober now and start preparing to quit smoking from 1 October.
“If you can stop smoking for 28 days, you are five times more likely to stay smoke free,” he said. “There are so many benefits to quitting smoking and it's never too late to stop even if you’ve smoked for many years. You can sign up for Stoptober now, along with the thousands of others who are expected to quit on 1 October.
“There are a range of free tools available that provide proven support to help you quit smoking during Stoptober. These include face to face support, a support pack, an app, emails and texts and you just need to pick the tools that suit you. If you smoke, giving up is probably the biggest single step you can take to improve your health and I’d encourage anyone who wants to give up smoking to sign up for Stoptober. You are four times more likely to stay smokefree with help from NHS stop smoking services.”
More than 250,000 smokers across England and Wales were estimated to have stubbed out their cigarettes for Stoptober in 2014.
Smoking is responsible for one in every five deaths in adults aged over 35 in England, and half of all long-term smokers will die prematurely due to a smoking-related disease.
For full details go to SMOKEFREE