The NHS Has Released a Special Stop Smoking Package of Content to Provide Information and Support for Those Wanting to Stop Smoking
London, England, UK – 6 August, 2009 (PressReleasePivot) — NHS Choices, the digital front door to the NHS, has embarked on a public education campaign to provide ongoing help and resources to those battling an addiction to smoking. the NHS website provides a number of educational materials as a part of their stop smoking package. These resources include articles, videos, tools, advice and helpful hints and tips on stopping smoking. the smoker will find information on the impact of this habit on their health, finances and those around them; and what support they can get to break the habit, quit smoking and stay smoke free.
Quitting smoking isn’t easy, but the drastic improvements to life and health are really motivating. the damage that smoking causes to the body is terrible, and secondhand smoke can also cause problems for everybody else. NHS Choices offers help and resources for people wanting to stop smoking and continue to live smoke free.
“Smoking is unattractive and dangerous and the costs are high and increasing year on year,” according to an NHS Choices spokesperson. “stopping smoking and going smoke-free will have people feeling great and give them extra money in their pockets. It may be tough, but they are not alone; the NHS is here to help them along, every step of the way.”
NHS Choices offers its website on stopping smoking ( nhs.uk/stopsmoking/ ) to help, inform and educate on the risks and effects of smoking, and their Stop smoking package aims to help people to quit smoking and remain smoke free. People looking to stop smoking can access tools such as the Smoking Calculator that allows them to figure out the financial and health costs of their habit. they can also download the Stop Smoking Widget, which is a desktop application offering a 30 day course of daily messages, information and tips straight to their computer.
“A study of 43,000 Norwegian smokers published in 2005 suggested that those who smoked up to five cigarettes a day were three times more likely to die of heart disease,” says GP Dr Michael Apple. “Smoking just one cigarette a day trebles your risk of lung cancer and raises the risk of chronic lung disease, as well as cancer of the mouth, throat, bladder, pancreas and many more. It also makes it more difficult to conceive, lowers sperm count and causes more complications in pregnancy. Study after study shows that the risks increase the more you smoke, but all risks start with just one cigarette.”
The NHS Choices stop smoking package offers the following resources to help people quit smoking and remain smoke free:
1) why stop smoking? – Includes information on the benefits of stopping smoking, the drastic improvements to health and life it can bring and the effects of secondhand smoke on non-smokers and children.
2) what Suits Me? – Includes information on all of the free NHS services available to support people as they go smoke free, such as local support groups and the NHS Smoking Helpline.
3) Real Life Quitters – Real life and celebrity quitters tell their true stories about how they successfully stopped smoking and how they used the free NHS support.
4) Questions? – Includes answers to commonly asked questions and the facility to submit questions to trained NHS advisers. People can share their own experiences by posting to the message wall where they can find out about other people’s stories as well.
5) Smoking and Pregnancy – Information on the effects of smoking on baby development.
6) Quit Tools – there are lots of tools on this website that can help people to go smoke free. they can find out about what happens to their body when they quit smoking, assess their current addiction levels, download inspirational videos, order support packs and more.
“It’s never too late to stop,” says an NHS spokesperson. “stopping smoking at any age will increase life expectancy, provided that a serious disease has not already developed.”
About NHS Choices: NHS Choices ( nhs.uk/ ) is the digital information service of the NHS – an NHS accredited website that gives ordinary people the tools to make better, more informed choices about their treatments, health and wellbeing. It includes more than 80,000 pages of content, including video, interactive tools, daily news service and lifestyle features. Users can also check and compare hospital and doctors’ profiles and performance on-line.