National No Smoking Day
Helping people on their journey to quitting smoking for good
Today is National No Smoking Day, and with around 6 million people over the age of 18 smoking, today is a great opportunity for pharmacies to support their communities and showcase their smoking cessation services.
Giving up smoking is one of the best decisions you can make for your health, offering countless benefits. However, the first day of quitting is often the toughest. This is why National No Smoking Day is the perfect opportunity for individuals to seek support from their local pharmacy and take the first step toward quitting smoking for good.
National No Smoking Day was first inaugurated on Ash Wednesday in 1984. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about the health implications of smoking tobacco. Since its inception, the day has been celebrated annually to encourage smokers to take that step towards overcoming their nicotine addiction.
For many years, the campaign was coordinated by the No Smoking Day charity. However, after its closure in 2011, the British Heart Foundation took on this role. Thanks to the success of the #QuitForCovid campaign, National No Smoking Day will also be coordinated by the Today is the Day platform.
Each year, the campaign adopts a promotional theme to motivate smokers to quit. In 2020, ASH Scotland used the slogan "Quit Your Way" along with the hashtag #QYWay. Previous slogans have included "Break Free," "Time to Quit".
The success of these slogans and the surrounding campaigns has been well received. According to a study conducted in 2006, the 22 years of National No Smoking Day effectively reached out to smokers through local and national awareness campaigns, helping them to quit.
Support National No Smoking Day with quick commit stratagies at your pharmacy
Pharmacies play a vital role in helping individuals quit smoking by providing guidance, treatment options, and expert advice. This National No Smoking Day, your pharmacy can support the community with quick commit strategies to help people take the first step towards a smoke-free life.
Here's how:
- Offer nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) and smoking cessation products.
- Provide export advice and personalised quit plans.
- Educate customers on the health benefits of quitting
- Host in-store commit to quit sessions for motivation and support.
Does your pharmacy offer the Smoking Cessation Service? NHS community pharmacies are a great place for patients to receive stop smoking advice and support. Through this service, hospitals can refer patients to community pharmacies to continue the stop-smoking journey they started in hospital.
To support this service, we offer two C02 monitors that meet the requirements of this service. PiCO Smokerlyzer and the PiCO Baby Smokerlizer. These devices measure the amount of carbon monoxide (C0) in a smoker’s breath, providing a motivational visual aid to help customers track their progress and stay committed to quitting smoking.
For more information, talk to our team today on 0115 849 7700 or email customer.services@emthealthcare.co.uk
