Can you be a New Year quitter?

4th January 2018

Stockport’s health and social care leaders are urging the boroughs 28,000 smokers to quit this New Year as a hard-hitting TV campaign is launched.

The TV advert from Public Health England shows how quickly poisons from tar in cigarettes enter the bloodstream, spreading around the body within seconds and causing damage to major organs.

Dr. Ranjit Gill, a Stockport GP and the Chief Clinical Officer at NHS Stockport CCG said “I see the damaging effects of smoking in my surgery almost every day. Tar from cigarettes causes damage to major organs, the bones and increases your risk of a range of cancers and diseases.

“But the good news is that no matter how long you’ve been smoking for, quitting can reduce your chances of developing cancer, heart and lung disease and other serious smoking related illnesses.

“If you currently smoke, quitting is the single best thing you can do for your health so ask your GP about support to quit smoking.”

Councillor Tom McGee Stockport Council’s Cabinet Member for Health said “New Year is a great opportunity to make a change and stop smoking for good. Quitting this January will immediately result in better health, including an improved sense of smell, taste and more energy.

“In Stockport we have a local service which offers free support and advice to give you that extra bit of support to help you quit.

“I know it can be really difficult to stop but the important thing is to commit to trying again, no matter how many times you might have tried and failed in the past – it’s never too late.”

To download free help including a Stop Smoking App visit www.nhs.uk/smokefree

For local support to quit smoking ring your START team on 0161 474 3141 or email them on START@stockport.gov.uk

More information can be found at healthystockport.co.uk