Fiona Tyrrell
New figures, which indicate that thousands of smokers have either quit or cut down, have been described as heartening by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin.
Quitting smoking is the "single most important thing a smoker can do for their health", according to Mr Martin at the publication of a survey carried out for the National Smokers' Quitline yesterday. It shows that almost 7,000 smokers who have contacted the national smoking quit line have stopped smoking, and 10,000 have reduced their cigarette consumption.
Almost four out of 10 people who have stopped said the new smoking ban had a significant or important bearing on their decision to quit, and over half said it was an important aspect in terms of staying off cigarettes.
Some 19,800 people have called the National Smokers' Quitline between last October and April 2004. Some 33 per cent of those have quit, according to the survey, which was conducted in July and August.
The help line was set up just under a year ago as part of the National Smoking Cessation campaign.
Over 9,500 have quit for an average of 7.4 weeks, but have since relapsed. For those who have quit, the average of being off cigarettes is around 21 weeks.
The survey also found that the majority of callers to the help line had attempted to quit on at least one other occasion, and more than one in six had been smoking for more than 15 years. Of those who smoke, 84 per cent smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day.
Of those who have not managed to quit, 59 per cent are still "thinking about it" and 34 per cent plan to quit in the next six months.