Data Says NHS Helped Over 370,000 People Kick the Butt

The number of people who quit smoking has risen by 11 percent with more than half of those who joined various NHS smoking services, recent figures reveal. According to data released by NHS Information Centre, more than 373,000 people gave up smoking during 2009-10 compared to 337,054 during the previous year. In total 757,537 had joined various programs created by the NHS to tackle the smoking problem.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) proved to be the most effective smoking program created by NHS with more than 65 percent of those who quit smoking opting for this therapy. Around 23 percent of those who quit used stop-smoking drug varenicline (Champix) while more than half of those who tried to quit smoking on their own were successful.

However the amount spent on such programs also saw a 11 percent increase with £84 million spent during the period compared to £74 million from the previous year.

Expressing his pride at the record numbers, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said “NHS doctors, nurses and health professionals in local stop-smoking services are dedicated to tackling smoking - it's because of their excellent work that more people than ever have successfully quit. Over 50 years, we have halved the proportion of adults who smoked.”


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