Use World No Tobacco Day to give up on smoking and chewing

Use World No Tobacco Day to give up on smoking and chewing.

To coincide with World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, people who use tobacco across Lancashire are being called on to kick the habit and live healthier lifestyles.

World No Tobacco Day, organised by the World Health Organisation, is an annual event and focuses on a different topic each year. The theme of this year’s event is that tobacco is a threat to global development and the Quit Squad is supporting the campaign by highlighting the harm that tobacco poses not just to global development, but also to the health and economic well-being of people.

According to the World Health Organisation, countries can benefit from successfully controlling the tobacco epidemic in different ways, above all by protecting their citizens from the harms of tobacco use and reducing its economic toll on national economies.

Phil Gooden from the Quit Squad said: “Tobacco use is a threat to people regardless of background and every year over 7 million people die from it, a figure that is expected to grow to over 8 million a year by 2030. World No Tobacco Day is a good way to raise awareness of the health risks and other issues associated with smoking and chewing. The focus of this year is that tobacco harms countries and that smoking and chewing costs economies a huge amount in healthcare costs.

“As well as the financial burden, there are several health risks associated with smoking including stroke, heart disease and cancer. There are numerous benefits to stopping smoking. Accessing stop smoking services, such as the Quit Squad, means you are four times more likely to quit for good than going it alone.”

To quit tobacco contact the Quit Squad, a service delivered by Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust and funded by Lancashire County Council.

You can access the service in your local community by visiting a drop-in clinic (for which no appointments are required) or by attending a one-to-one session. The Quit Squad also offers sessions in the community and workplace. For further details, telephone 0800 3286297, visit www.quitsquad.nhs.uk, or follow the Quit Squad on Twitter @LancashireCare #QuitSquad.