Delight as smokers quit habit in their droves

A health trust beat its target for helping people give up smoking in 2009-2010. South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust aimed to give assistance to 3,773, but over the year helped 4,106 in total.

Chris Stanley, the trust's co-ordinator for tobacco control, said: "We are thrilled to have been able to help so many people to give up smoking and that more non-smokers have been protected from the effects of second hand smoke, but know that there is still a lot of work to do.

"We want to spread the message even further, to reach the people who smoke around children - who are especially vulnerable to second-hand smoke owing to their smaller lungs and underdeveloped immune systems.

"If smoking in the home is bad for children - smoking in vehicles is much worse.

"Even with the windows open, the level of smoke remaining in a vehicle is many times worse than that of a typical 'smoky' room.

The trust, which serves a population of 615,000, including residents in Cannock, Stafford and Lichfield, has stepped up efforts to encourage people to stop smoking since the introduction of the law to ban smoking in public buildings and vehicles three years ago.

Smokers are helped to get patches, gum and other products to help them stop at a fraction of the retail cost. Anyone wanting more information and support can call South

Staffordshire NHS Stop Smoking Service on 0800 043 4304 or the NHS Stop Smoking Helpline on 0345 245 0759.

A 12-week Time To Quit support programme is offered combined with medication for stopping smoking.

Figures show that one in two people who use Time To Quit are still not smoking when they are checkedfour weeks later.