Smoking
Smoking kills around 114,000 people in the UK every year - more than 300 every day. In Southwark about 30% of people smoke, which is more than the national average.
Smokers inhale over 4000 chemicals with every cigarette - including nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide. The best thing we can do to improve our health is to stop smoking. Nicotine is very addictive and quitting is hard, but Southwark is here to support you. It offers a range of services to help people quit.
The good news is that stopping smoking really does work
The minute you stop smoking, your body starts to recover and the risk of serious disease starts to fall. Quitting will leave you with more energy and will improve your skin. It will also leave you richer. A 20-a-day smoker will spend £134 a month on cigarettes.
It's a really good time to plan to stop smoking
In summer 2007 all enclosed public places will become smoke-free. Some pubs and bars in Southwark are trying out smoke-free evenings before the ban starts, which is really good news for everyone trying to quit. So be ahead of the game and stop now.
It is even more important to try to stop smoking if you are a pregnant woman.
Smoking in pregnancy increases the chances of miscarriage and leads to low birth-weight babies. If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy and smoking, it can help to talk to someone in confidence. Southwark offers a special service for pregnant women and new mothers.
Debbie Lewis from Camberwell was referred to the stop smoking counsellor through her midwife at her GP surgery. She was expecting her first child James at the time and smoking about forty cigarettes a day. Debbie was prescribed nicotine replacement therapy patches.
“The patches helped me to give up smoking but I nearly started again when I ran out of them. It’s now over a year since I quit and I’m expecting my second child. But it’s not just me that feels healthier and happier. My sister and my dad have both given up smoking too!”
Local services
SLAM - Southwark Stop Smoking Clinic
4 Windsor Walk, SE5 8AF
Phone: 020 7848 0054
Stop Smoking Advisor Freephone: 0800 169 6002.
Southwark Smoking Cessation Counsellors For Pregnant Women and New Mothers
Phone: 020 7394 8696
Freephone: 0800 169 6002.