Public Health England today launches its Health Harms campaign, encouraging smokers to quit by demonstrating the harms to health that come from every cigarette.
Smoking tobacco is the biggest cause of lung cancer in the UK, with around seven out of 10 lung cancers caused by smoking, including breathing in the cigarette smoke produced by others.
Smoking prevalence for Yorkshire and the Humber is 17 per cent - significantly higher than the England average of 15 per cent. More people die from lung cancer in West Yorkshire and Harrogate than from any other cancer.
The Health Harms initiative is supported by West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance, which will launch its own Tackling Lung Cancer campaign in Bradford and Wakefield during the Spring of 2019. Click here to find out more.
The Public Health England campaign includes a new film - see below - showing the devastating harms from smoking and how these can be avoided by switching to an e-cigarette or using another type of quit aid.
The film visually demonstrates the high levels of cancer-causing chemicals and tar inhaled by an average smoker over a month, compared to not smoking or using an e-cigarette. The results of the experiment visually illustrate the stark contrast between the impacts of smoking and vaping. Research estimates that while not risk-free, vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking.
3.2 million adults in the UK are using e-cigarettes and they have helped thousands of people successfully quit – but many smokers (44%) still either wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking or don’t know that vaping poses much lower risks to health, according to Dr Lion Shahab, a leading smoking cessation academic from University College, London, who features in the film.
Click here to access the results of a Cancer Research UK-funded study, which concluded that e-cigarettes and NRT are far safer than smoking, and suggests that there is a very low risk associated with their long-term use.
Scott Crosby, from PHE in Yorkshire and The Humber (pictured left with Alliance Clinical Lead, Professor Sean Duffy) said: "Way, way too many people in our region will die over the next year as a result of smoking. Quit – it’s the best thing you can do for your health. No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to stop.There’s great support that will work for you and help make sure you succeed - and stay stopped for good.’
Smoking increases the risk of developing more than 50 serious health conditions, including cancer and heart disease, and doubles the risk of dying from a stroke. According to Public Health England, of the 6.1 million smokers in England, six in 10 want to quit but many try to quit using willpower alone – or going ‘cold turkey’ – despite this being the least effective method.
The most successful quit attempts use a combination of effective stop smoking support methods. Recent research suggests that smokers who quit with the help of an e-cigarette are less likely to start smoking again. Use of specialist stop smoking services also increases the chance of being able to remain smokefree.
Public Health England is also promoting use of the Personal Quit Plan - a quick, free and easy-to-use digital tool to help smokers find the right support to help them quit, taking into account how much they smoke and any quitting support used previously.
Click here to access the Smokefree home page with information about support to quit and how to find your nearest specialist stop smoking service.
Click here to find out more about the work of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance in tackling the region's biggest cancer killer - lung cancer.
