National No Smoking Day is observed in the UK annually on the second Wednesday of March, which falls on the 12th of March 2025. Launched on Ash Wednesday in 1984, this day seeks to promote awareness about the risks associated with smoking and motivate smokers to quit, emphasizing the benefits of living a smoke-free life.
Smoking poses significant health risks, impacting most organs in the body. Smokers significantly elevate the risk of developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), lung cancer, and heart disease.
The positive aspect is that quitting smoking results in immediate and long-term health benefits, lowering health risks and enhancing well-being overall. While quitting can seem overwhelming, the right resources and support can make the process more manageable and increase the likelihood of success without unnecessary stress.
Why quit smoking?
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a harmful gas found in cigarette smoke and is inhaled when smoking. Once inhaled, CO is absorbed into the bloodstream, reducing oxygen levels and increasing the risk of heart disease.
However, improvements can be observed in as little as 8 hours after smoking the last cigarette.
- Eight hours after the last cigarette, oxygen levels will begin recovering, and CO levels in the bloodstream will drop by half.
- 48 hours after, CO levels will be decreased to those of a non-smoker.1
- Two weeks to three months after, lung function and circulation will improve.2
- After nine months, there will be a reduction in coughing and shortness of breath, and your lungs will recover.2
- One year after your last cigarette, the risk of coronary heart disease is halved.2
- Five years after your last cigarette, your risk of many types of cancer is reduced.2
Smoking also has significant financial impacts. If you smoke the average amount of cigarettes a day (11.1), you could save £1,239 after six months of not smoking based on the cheapest price of a pack of cigarettes.2
Healthcare impact
Smoking also places a significant burden on the NHS as resources are stretched from more GP visits and health complications due to smoking. It is believed that eliminating smoking could free up 75,000 GP appointments every month, enabling healthcare professionals to concentrate more on preventive care and other important matters.3
UK ‘Smokefree’ by 2030
In 2019, the UK government set an ambitious target to make England ‘Smokefree’ by 2030, aiming to lower adult smoking rates to 5% or below.4 This initiative is part of a larger strategy focused on proactive, predictive, and personalized prevention, which also involves plans to gradually increase the legal smoking age, ensuring that anyone born after 2008 cannot legally buy tobacco.
The government announced additional measures in January 2024 to support these efforts to enhance public health, especially among youth. By the end of 2025, disposable vapes will be prohibited to limit their availability to children.
New regulations will also introduce plain packaging and restrictions on sweet-flavored vapes, which tend to attract younger users. These actions are designed to address smoking and vaping rates, steering the country toward a smoke-free future.
What help is available?
Quitting smoking can be difficult, and various resources aid smoking cessation. This ranges from support groups to stop-smoking clinics. Here are some of the available options to help stop smoking:
NHS stop smoking services
- Free expert support, advice, and resources offered by the NHS Smokefree service
- Personalized plans to stop smoking can be found at the Local Stop Smoking Clinics, along with medication access.
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)
- Nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, nasal sprays, and inhalers help reduce withdrawal symptoms from smoking.
- NRT is available on prescription or over the counter and provides a controlled dose of nicotine without the harmful chemicals in cigarettes.
CO devices
- CO devices provide real-time feedback on CO levels in exhaled breath.
- CO devices can help reduce cigarette consumption, according to research, giving them the motivation to quit.
The Smokerlyzer®
The Smokerlyzer® is a CO device used to measure the amount of CO in a person’s exhaled breath. By providing real-time CO readings, people can measure their progress during a quit attempt with the Smokerlyzer®. The instant feedback the device provides can help detect relapses and reinforce progress. As a result, the Smokerlyzer® makes quitting smoking more structured, motivating, and achievable.
The Smokerlyzer® can be combined with a remote Bluetooth® device, the iCOquit®, allowing users to track their smoking cessation efforts from their homes. The device can be used with the iCOquit® app, available on Google Play and Apple App Store.
Users can monitor their CO levels from a distance and share their results with smoking cessation advisors, friends, and family. This feature offers visual encouragement and lets users track their quitting journey in real-time.
Image Credit: Bedfont® Scientific Ltd
How National No Smoking Day inspires smoking cessation
National No Smoking Day is a motivational catalyst for numerous smokers looking to quit. Supported by health organizations, charities, and public health initiatives, it has assisted thousands in initiating cessation.
With smoking remaining one of the leading causes of preventable illness and death in the UK, more effort is required to educate and assist smokers on their quit-smoking journey.6
References
- Quit smoking - Better Health. (online) Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/.
- ASH Scotland. No Smoking Day. (online) Available at: https://ashscotland.org.uk/no-smoking-day/ (Accessed 27 Mar. 2024).
- Smith, J. (2023). Ending smoking could free up 75,000 GP appointments each month. (online) Cancer Research UK - Cancer News. Available at: https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2023/03/07/ending-smoking-could-free-up-gp-appointments/.
- Balogun, F. and Balogun, O. (2023). The Onc Docs: Partnering with Black cancer patients for cancer education. Journal of Clinical Oncology, (online) 41(16_suppl), pp.e18681–e18681. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2023.41.16_suppl.e18681.
- Department of Health and Social Care (2019). Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s – consultation document. (online) GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/advancing-our-health-prevention-in-the-2020s/advancing-our-health-prevention-in-the-2020s-consultation-document.
- House of Commons Library. Rachael Harker. [cited on Wednesday 19th February 2025] Available from https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp- 7648/#:~:text=Smoking%20is%20a%20leading%20cause,adults%20aged%2035%20and%20over.
About Bedfont® Scientific Ltd
Bedfont® Scientific has specialized in the design and manufacture of exhaled breath and gas monitoring instruments since 1976.
For medical gas monitoring, their Medi-Gas Check medical pipeline testing range verifies not only the quantity but also quality of gas administered to patients.
Bedfont's breath analysers include carbon monoxide (CO) monitors such as the Smokerlyzer®, used for smoking cessation, and the ToxCO®, used by emergency services, to diagnose CO poisoning.
The NObreath® FeNO monitor provides accurate analysis of airway inflammation for the control of asthma, and the Gastrolyzer® range aids in the detection of gastrointestinal disorders and food intolerances. Quick and non-invasive, breath analysis is the new blood test.
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