March to help Islanders win their fight and stub out cigarettes for good

Wednesday 12 March 2014

A team from support service Help2Quit will be marching through King Street today to promote national No Smoking Day and its pharmacy service which helped support nearly a thousand Islanders as they battled to kick the habit last year.

This year’s No Smoking Day campaign theme is “V for Victory” to get people to think about how they can win the fight against smoking and the Help2Quit team are reminding Islanders that they don’t have to do it alone. Their Pharmacy Service has expanded since it was set up last year and there is now support available to smokers at 19 pharmacies around the Island.

The rate of adults smoking in Jersey is around 22% - that’s down 3% since 2005 but smoking is still killing around 170 Islanders a year.

Service Coordinator Dr Rhona Reardon said: “Stopping smoking can be seen as a tough battle, but smokers who have successfully quit will often highlight the “feel-good” benefits they enjoy from being smoke free. The message of the No Smoking Day campaign is that the benefits of quitting are worth the effort.”

The Help2Quit team will march through King Street during the lunch hour (1- 2pm) dressed in red No Smoking Day t-shirts. They’ll be handing out leaflets and answering queries about the service.

Help2Quit is a free and confidential stop smoking service delivered by local pharmacies on behalf of the Health Department. It offers free information, support and nicotine replacement therapy.