Key messages
• Take back your life this No Smoking Day – Wednesday 12th March 2025.
• Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for your health.
• It’s never too late to quit smoking. Even if you’ve tried quitting before, give it another go this No Smoking Day.
• When you stop smoking, there are almost immediate improvements to your health.
• There’s no need to go it alone – it’s much easier to stop smoking when you get the right support and there are lots of options to choose from.
• Getting free expert support from your local stop smoking service is proven to give you the best chance of quitting successfully. Some are now able to offer free vape starter kits too.
• NHS Better Health offers a range of free quitting support including the NHS Quit Smoking app, Personal Quit Plan, 28-day email programme, local stop smoking service look-up tool, as well as advice on stop smoking aids including information on how vaping can help you quit smoking.
• On average, you could save around £2,500 per year by quitting smoking.
Smoking facts and stats
• Smoking claims around 80,000 lives a year in the UK (or around 64,000 lives a year in England).
• Smoking causes one in four of all cancer deaths in England and kills up to two-thirds of its long-term users.
• On average, someone who smokes loses approximately 20 minutes of their life for every cigarette they smoke.
• While smoking rates have declined, 11.9% of the population (6 million people in U.K) still smoke.
• The latest statistics from NHS England show that in 2022-23 there were an estimated 408,700 hospital admissions due to smoking. This means that on average almost every minute someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking.
• Three-quarters of smokers wish they had never started smoking.
• It is estimated that smoking costs the country £21.3 billion a year in England. This includes an annual £18 billion loss to productivity, through smoking related lost earnings, unemployment, and early death, as well as costs to the NHS and social care of £3 billion.
• The average smoker can save around £48 a week by quitting smoking. That’s nearly £2,500 a year.
When you quit smoking the benefits start almost immediately:
• after just 8 hours harmful carbon monoxide levels in your blood will have reduced by half
• after 48 hours your senses of taste and smell are improving
• after 2 to 12 weeks circulation will have improved
• after 3 to 9 months lung function increases by up to 10%
• after 1 year the risk of heart attack will have halved compared with a smoker’s
• after 10 years the risk of death from lung cancer will have halved compared with a smoker’s
• after 15 years the risk of heart attack is now the same as someone who has never smoked.
• Evidence shows that once people have got past the short-term withdrawal stage of quitting, they have reduced anxiety, depression and stress and increased positive mood compared with people who continue to smoke.
Useful links
Better Health quit smoking website: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/
• Personal Quit Plan: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/ready-to-quit-smoking/personal-quit-plan/
• Free NHS quit smoking app (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nhs-quit-smoking/id687298065
• Free NHS quit smoking app (Google Play): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doh.smokefree&hl=en_GB&gl=US&pli=1
• Better Health information on nicotine-free medicines: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/ready-to-quit-smoking/quit-with-nicotine-free[1]medicines/
• Better Health information on nicotine replacement therapies: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/ready-to-quit-smoking/quit-with-nicotine[1]replacement-therapies-nrt/
Comments