Smokers underestimate health and financial impact of smoking

A Campaign has been launched to help smokers quit this New Year. As millions of New Year’s resolutions are made today, new NHS Smokefree research reveals that many smokers are largely underestimating how damaging smoking is to their personal health and finances. The research shows: More than half (53%) of smokers underestimate the number of people who die annually from smoking related diseases by at least 70,000 (the actual figure is over 80,000 deaths a year in England as a result of smoking). More than half (58%) of smokers underestimate how many long term smokers die early from smoking related disease (the actual figure is that 1 in 2 of all long-term smokers will die early from smoking related disease). More than a third (35%) of smokers underestimate the number of cancer deaths caused by smoking (the actual figure is that smoking is estimated to be responsible for almost a third of all cancer deaths in the England. And surprisingly, 8% of smokers still do not believe that smoking can seriously damage their health and lead to premature death. Smokers also underestimate the financial costs of smoking3 – on average smokers estimate that smoking 20-a-day habit is costing them £1800 per year. With a packet of 20 cigarettes now costing on average £6.59, smokers are underestimating this by more than £600. In reality, a 20-a-day smoker could save £2,405 a year if they quit. The research also suggested that many smokers are not stopping smoking because of misconceptions they have about quitting: over a third said that they feel too stressed to try to quit (33%), the same amount are not quitting because they don’t feel they have the willpower required (33%) or are not quitting because they tried before and failed (35%). In reality, research shows that smoking causes more stress and anxiety than not smoking and that quitting can help to reduce stress. Evidence also shows that you can increase your chances of quitting successfully by using NHS support and that your willpower can be boosted with simple exercises available in the new and improved Quit Kit. Help is at hand for the thousands of smokers who want to quit in the New Year. The Department of Health is launching an advertising campaign aimed at giving people the right tools to quit smoking by encouraging them to get a new and improved NHS Quit Kit from a participating pharmacy in England from 1 January.