New advert is launched to help Sheffield smokers “quit for Covid-19”

To encourage even more people to make a quit attempt, a new advert has been created to remind people about the significant health benefits of quitting. Due to launch ahead of World No Tobacco Day tomorrow, the advert which will be shown on the ITV Hub, Hallam FM and social media for six weeks.

Greg Fell, Director of Public Health in Sheffield, said: “Smoking is still the biggest killer in Sheffield and smoking cessation remains a public health priority. READ MORE: Yorkshire’s only female ‘blood biker’ volunteer from Sheffield doing vital work on the frontline

“There is very clear evidence that quitting smoking rapidly reduces your risk of a range of life-threatening illnesses. Quitting smoking is the best thing any smoker can do to improve their health.

“This new advert is set to reach over 100,000 people in the city with this very important message and we hope it will encourage more people to reach out to our stop smoking service.”

Nationally, over half a million people have made a quit attempt since the COVID-19 outbreak. The organisation has been raising awareness of the risks of smoking and COVID-19 through its support of the national #QuitForCovid campaign. Since the launch of the campaign in April, there has been a surge in people visiting the smokefreesheffield.org website to find advice and support.

Smokers are at risk of a range of serious health problems requiring them to need treatment from the NHS. Quitting reduces both the likelihood of disease and hospital admission.

In addition, smoking harms the immune system and can make the body less successful at fighting disease and infections such as COVID-19, while the repetitive hand to mouth movement provides an easy route of entry, putting smokers at greater risk of contracting the virus.

Quitting smoking quickly improves your circulation and your breathing and improves mental health.

It also reduces that individual’s risk of other health problems such as heart attacks and strokes.

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