On the eve of a new campaign to engage more smokers to
quit, new analysis by ASH and UCL finds that over a million
people in the UK have stopped smoking since the COVID-19 pandemic
hit the country. A further 440,000 smokers tried to quit during
this period [1].
The campaign is supported by respiratory consultant Dr Ruth
Sharrock, who has made a heartfelt plea for people to quit to
protect their health. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable
illness, causing cancer, heart and lung disease, and smokers who
are hospitalised with COVID-19 more likely to suffer severe
outcomes than non-smokers. Funded by the Department of Health and
Social Care, it builds on successful campaigns in the North East
and Greater Manchester and will target smokers in
localities/local authority areas with the highest rates of
smoking.
Dr Ruth Sharrock says:
“Every day of my working life I see the
terrible health problems caused by smoking. But I have also
been inspired by those already suffering from smoking related
diseases, who have still managed quit and get health
benefits from this. My message to smokers today is,
please, do not wait. Whether you are healthy now or
already unwell because of smoking, today is the day to stop.
It can transform
your life.”
Listen to the radio advert here.
While thousands have heeded advice to quit during the
COVID-19 pandemic, there is great variation by age, with younger
smokers quitting at a much greater rate than older
smokers.
Around 400,000 people aged 16-29 have quit compared to
240,000 of those over 50. This difference is driven by rates of
quitting among 16-29 year olds more than twice the rate those
over 50 (17% of smokers and recent ex-smokers aged between 16-29
compared to 7% of those older than 50). People aged 30-49 have a
slightly lower rate of quitting than the under 30s (13% of
smokers and recent ex-smokers) but a similar number of people
giving up smoking at around 400,000, due to the size of the
population.
The new campaign calls on smokers of all ages to make a
change, but particularly those older smokers who might be more at
risk. Smoking related illnesses which have been linked to worse
outcomes from COVID-19 include COPD, diabetes, stroke and other
heart conditions.
Deborah Arnott says:
“Over a million smokers have succeeded in stopping
smoking since COVID-19 hit Britain, but that still nearly five
times as many who have carried on smoking. This campaign is
designed to encourage those who’ve not yet succeeded, to wake up
and decide today is the day to stop smoking.”
Lee from Castleford, West Yorkshire, smoked since he was
18, but encouragement from his niece got him to make a quit
attempt and the COVID-19 crisis further spurred him on. He has
now been smokefree for nearly five months. Lee had to give up
work as a painter and decorator after an epileptic seizure, which
smokers are four times more likely to experience, caused him to
lose his sight in one eye. Lee said:
“It was tough after I had to stop work. I used to get
chest infections often, which I’m convinced were linked to
smoking. Since quitting, I don’t even get coughs.
“With the present climate and coronavirus, I’m so glad I have
quit. My niece who I am close to, was the person who motivated me
– she said how much better I’d feel if I stopped smoking. I was
sick of waking up, coughing and spluttering – so I made myself
give quitting a go. Once the patches went on, that was it. My
advice to people is to get to know the facts. If you put your
mind to it, you can stop. You’ve got to be determined – but it
does get easier.”
ENDS
References
[1] The survey was conducted between
15th April and 20th June
2020. It was an online survey using the YouGov panel with 10251
respondents. For more information on the YouGov Covid Tracker
see: https://yougov.co.uk/covid-19. Additional
analysis was undertaken by Action on Smoking and Health and
University College London using ONS
population data mid-year 2019
estimates.
