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One million Brits have quit smoking during covid pandemic

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Unsplash

One million Brits have quit smoking since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) says.

Ash has calculated that 1,036,000 smokers and recent ex-smokers had quit or continued their abstinence since coronavirus cases started circulating in the UK in March.

The charity surveyed more than 10,000 people across England, Wales and Scotland, including 1,700 smokers and people who had quit in the last four months.

It found that younger smokers were more likely to have stopped than older smokers – 17 per cent of smokers and recent ex-smokers aged between 16-29 said they had quit compared to seven per cent of those older than 50. A further 13 per cent of those aged 30 to 49 quit during the pandemic, too.

A regional breakdown found that smokers in the North East of England were more likely to have quit than anywhere else in the country – with 20 per cent of smokers saying they had kicked the habit since the pandemic.

Wales and the East Midlands saw the smallest quit rates with eight per cent of smokers and former smokers saying they had stopped smoking during the crisis.

After extrapolating the figures, the charity estimated that a million people would have quit since the crisis hit and a further 440,000 smokers had tried to quit during this period.

The figures were released to mark Ash’s new campaign in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care to encourage more smokers to quit.

Map show smoking rates in London by borough - with Barking and Dagenham being the worst offender (Vape Club)
Map show smoking rates in London by borough - with Barking and Dagenham being the worst offender (Vape Club)

“Over a million smokers may have succeeded in stopping smoking since Covid-19 hit Britain, but millions more have carried on smoking,” said Ash chief executive Deborah Arnott.

“This campaign is designed to encourage those who’ve not yet succeeded, to wake up and decide today is the day to stop smoking.”

Respiratory consultant Dr Ruth Sharrock, who is featured in the campaign, said: “Every day of my working life I see the terrible health problems caused by smoking.

“But I have also been inspired by those already suffering from smoking-related diseases, who have still managed to quit and get health benefits from this.

“Please, do not wait – whether you are healthy now or already unwell because of smoking, today is the day to stop. It can transform your life.”

A new map (seen above) by Vape Club shows London's smoking prevalence by borough. London, in general, has a lower smoking rate than the UK average, with just 12.9 per cent of Londoners smoking compared to the average of 13.9 per cent. But the map shows that Barking and Dagenham are the worst offenders for smoking in London, with 18.1 per cent smoking prevalence in the borough.

Additional reporting by PA.

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