Mayor of Greater Manchester backs Stoptober smoking campaign

The annual Public Health England campaign – which is now in its sixth year and is also being supported by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) – encourages people to quit smoking during the month of October and offers a range of free support.

It’s based on research that if you stop smoking for 28 days you are five times more likely to go smoke-free for good.

In Greater Manchester smoking rates have been falling consistently over the past few years. As more people stop smoking for good, partners have launched an ambition to further reduce smoking rates by one third by 2021 – that’s more than 100,000 people stopping smoking together across our city region.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “This year in Greater Manchester Stoptober is bigger than ever – we want to encourage everyone who smokes here to quit together from October 1. 

“The latest success rates show that advances in support and a stronger anti-smoking culture are leading to more people successfully stopping smoking. I am always impressed at anyone who successfully manages to quit smoking and I hope to congratulate many more come the end of Stoptober as Greater Manchester gets behind those taking on the 28-day challenge. Good luck!”

Lord Peter Smith, who is GMCA’s portfolio lead for Health and Social Care, said: “It’s very positive news that smoking rates across Greater Manchester are falling but there’s still a lot more work to do. We recognise that in a sense we’re down the hard core of people who smoke for a number of reasons but we’re hoping that with the local authorities coming together with their communities we can give those people who smoke support and empower them to stop smoking because it does improve your health and your wealth.”

The Stoptober quit smoking challenge has inspired over one and a half million quit attempts since 2012.

Smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK, causing cancers including lung, mouth, throat, stomach and liver cancer, as well as respiratory disease and heart disease and increasing problems such as asthma. 

There are lots of ways to quit smoking and Stoptober can help people choose what works for them. Stoptober offers a range of free support to help people on their journey, including an app, daily emails, Facebook Messenger and lots of encouragement from the Stoptober online community of Facebook.

In addition people can get expert face-to-face advice from local stop smoking services.

Information about the Stoptober campaign can be found online: PHE Stoptober campaign 

Stopotober Video: https://vimeo.com/235904724/b6bfc92bc1