New campaign targets smokers in Dorset

DIRTY HABIT: A new campaign is helping people to give up smoking DIRTY HABIT: A new campaign is helping people to give up smoking

A NEW hard-hitting campaign has been launched to highlight the dangers of a common smoking-related lung disease.

Take a Breath aims to raise awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, an irreversible condition that accounts for more deaths than breast, prostate or bowel cancer in the UK.

COPD is the UK’s fifth biggest killer and as many as 90,000 people in the region are registered as suffering from it. An estimated 55,000 are still undiagnosed.

In Bournemouth and Poole there are 5,598 known sufferers and an estimated 5,829 people undiagnosed. The rest of Dorset has 6,734 registered COPD sufferers and an estimated 5,069 undiagnosed.

The disease is the second most common cause of emergency admissions to hospitals and one of the most expensive to treat as an in-patient, costing the NHS around £579 million a year.

Smokefree South West, supported by the British Lung Foundation, launched the new campaign on World COPD Day on Wednesday.

Dr Steve Holmes, clinical respiratory lead for NHS South West and chairman of the British Lung Foundation in the region, said: “If caught early there is plenty of help that can be provided and with support it is possible to reduce the impact of the disease.”

The campaign will feature on TV and radio from next Monday.

Comments(21)

elite50 says...
1:29pm Fri 16 Nov 12

To watch a loved one cough their lungs out as they die is the worst thing that can happen.
I have watched this wretched event too many times.
The "Marlboro Man" and the scum that live off of his image (he died of lung cancer too) have a lot to answer for!
I was raised to believe that to blow cigarette smoke into a womans face was a sure fire way to success with them.
Maybe I was a slow learner but it took me many years to learn that this ploy did not work!
If someone can let me know of a sure fire success strategy (I have been married for over 40 years) that works every time I would be gratefull.
I gave up cigarettes after my first heart attack, so a different approach is needed!

The Renegade Master says...
2:06pm Fri 16 Nov 12

My father was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer. I am proud to say I have never once taken a drag on a cigarette and I have no intention of ever doing so.
It's pretty well known that smoking is potentially lethal, yet people continue to ignore the risks anyway. This campaign will make no difference, in fact the mentality of hardcore smokers would likely be to stick two fingers up at the nanny state telling them what to do!

Adrian XX says...
2:40pm Fri 16 Nov 12

in fact the mentality of hardcore smokers would likely be to stick two fingers up at the nanny state telling them what to do

Yes, but they expect nanny state to help them when they get COPD or cancer. Prevention is better than cure: I wish these campaigns success.

saynomore says...
8:14pm Fri 16 Nov 12

If you saw any foodstuffs in a supermarket that said this product can kill you wouldnt buy it would you,but smokers are so stupid that they ingest a lethal product like cigarettes.And non smokers have to put up with the stink of smokers,they dont reailse how bad they smell because ther sense of smell has been ruined,non smokers can detect a smoker anytime.

Turtlebay says...
9:06pm Fri 16 Nov 12

The amount of taxation we pay on our cigarettes and tobacco is ten times the paltry amount of £579 million a year! If we all give up you non smokers will have to make up the deficit of that tax out of your pay packets.

hamworthygirl says...
8:21am Sat 17 Nov 12

Turtlebay wrote:
The amount of taxation we pay on our cigarettes and tobacco is ten times the paltry amount of £579 million a year! If we all give up you non smokers will have to make up the deficit of that tax out of your pay packets.
I have to agree to a certain extent but it would start a preceedent if we didnt treat smokers. What about the drinkers who wont or cant give up for their health and the overweights who have diabtetes and wont hlep themselves do we exclude them as well? I had an uncle who slowly died of a lung disease and a my dad saw this and stopped smoking at 60 and is still with us now aged 84, so it is do-able at any age.I understand the frustrations of the medical profession when people wont give for their health but putting prices up and hiding cigarettes behind doors wont stop them. I smoked as a young person and gave it up 30 years ago and so glad I did,at least now there is lots of help when i did it was cold turkey and will power.

penhale says...
9:08am Sat 17 Nov 12

I have to agree that smoking is a masive killer but where would this country be without smokers.
The government profess to be hiking the price of cigarettes to persuade people to stop smoking, what if everyone stopped smoking today, 12 billion quid would be lost in revenue.
The governments excuse of trying to price cigarettes out of the reach of many people is nonsense, what they are really doing is preying on peoples addictions.
Many people moan about smokers, drinkers and drivers but without their billions paid for their habits this country would be bankrupt.
Somebody will have to make up the shortfall so to all the whingers out their, start saving your pennies, as soon as drinking, driving and smoking is priced so high that people will be forced to give up you will be having all your taxes hiked to cover the loss.

Azphreal says...
9:14am Sat 17 Nov 12

The Government says its loses around £20.000.000 a WEEK in tax because of tobacco brought from abroad so how much do you think they make a year from what tax is paid on? It has been medical proven that children who grew up near a heavy use road have smaller lungs than they should so shall we ban those roads (people choose to use them) or increase fuel tax to the same amount as tobacco tax? If everyone stopped smoking tomorrow the country would be crippled due to the loss in tax.

upyourpipe says...
9:50am Sat 17 Nov 12

All governments hammer those who bring fags in from abroad by reason of lost revenue, if they are so put out by smuggled ciggies they will surely be put out when smoking reduces to such a level that no revenue is forthcoming.
The government has recently complained that revenue from petrol sales has reduced by millions of pounds because drivers cannot afford to use their cars due to the ever increasing price yet the government are always urging us not to drive because of climate change so which is it to be, drive more to keep the country in the black or cycle more and put the country in the red, the same goes for smoking, the price is increased on the pretence of forcing people to give up the evil weed yet they moan about lost revenue by smuggling.
All governments see a popular addictive past time which is hard to give up and so they have a captive audience, they tax them high knowing that people will pay through the nose for their habit, the same with driving, its a necessity these days so up goes the tax.
I can see my taxes increasing significantly when people are forced of the roads and to stop smoking.

palexgo says...
9:53am Sat 17 Nov 12

Humans have smoked for at least 400,000 years. Fires in and out of caves and huts were enormously protective. Fire and smoke protected us from predatory animals and dangerous insects. Fire and smoke also made our food safer.

The danger of smoking arose from the chemicals tobacco producers used to stop tobacco going out. They also dried the tobacco too much and it burnt at much higher temperatures. That is why rolling tobacco is safer than ready made cigarettes.

elite50 says...
10:52am Sat 17 Nov 12

palexgo wrote:
Humans have smoked for at least 400,000 years. Fires in and out of caves and huts were enormously protective. Fire and smoke protected us from predatory animals and dangerous insects. Fire and smoke also made our food safer.

The danger of smoking arose from the chemicals tobacco producers used to stop tobacco going out. They also dried the tobacco too much and it burnt at much higher temperatures. That is why rolling tobacco is safer than ready made cigarettes.
Dream on.
Of course it is much safer to throw yourself under a car than a steamroller.
The result is about the same but you do get to be the one in a hundred who survives by a a "miracle" pot-hole every now and then!

elite50 says...
12:38pm Sat 17 Nov 12

penhale wrote:
I have to agree that smoking is a masive killer but where would this country be without smokers.
The government profess to be hiking the price of cigarettes to persuade people to stop smoking, what if everyone stopped smoking today, 12 billion quid would be lost in revenue.
The governments excuse of trying to price cigarettes out of the reach of many people is nonsense, what they are really doing is preying on peoples addictions.
Many people moan about smokers, drinkers and drivers but without their billions paid for their habits this country would be bankrupt.
Somebody will have to make up the shortfall so to all the whingers out their, start saving your pennies, as soon as drinking, driving and smoking is priced so high that people will be forced to give up you will be having all your taxes hiked to cover the loss.
Using your figures it would cost about 4.5 Quid a week for every person in Britain if cigarettes were banned.
How much do you think it costs every-one to treat the people dying of cancer, losing time off of work etc. in the pursuit of their "tobbacco fix".
This is not a judgement (I used to smoke) but a realistic question.
Of course if tobbacco was banned their would be a "prohibition" type mafia in place very soon.

retry69 says...
6:52pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Getting back to the topic about highlighting the dangers of smoking i dont seem to see so many youngsters smoking as i used to, certainly not as many as in the late 60s and 70s so perhaps the message is slowly getting through

penhale says...
9:06pm Sat 17 Nov 12

elite50 wrote:
penhale wrote:
I have to agree that smoking is a masive killer but where would this country be without smokers.
The government profess to be hiking the price of cigarettes to persuade people to stop smoking, what if everyone stopped smoking today, 12 billion quid would be lost in revenue.
The governments excuse of trying to price cigarettes out of the reach of many people is nonsense, what they are really doing is preying on peoples addictions.
Many people moan about smokers, drinkers and drivers but without their billions paid for their habits this country would be bankrupt.
Somebody will have to make up the shortfall so to all the whingers out their, start saving your pennies, as soon as drinking, driving and smoking is priced so high that people will be forced to give up you will be having all your taxes hiked to cover the loss.
Using your figures it would cost about 4.5 Quid a week for every person in Britain if cigarettes were banned.
How much do you think it costs every-one to treat the people dying of cancer, losing time off of work etc. in the pursuit of their "tobbacco fix".
This is not a judgement (I used to smoke) but a realistic question.
Of course if tobbacco was banned their would be a "prohibition" type mafia in place very soon.
How do you arrive at your figure of £4 to £5 per week, are you quoting this from the whole population of 61 million.

CharlesIIX says...
10:09pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Stop it!

The effect of blaming smoking on lung cancer and COPD is to give the false impression that these are self inflicted illnesses that can be cured merely by eliminating smoking and gives non-smokers the false impression that they are immune. This reduces vital funding for research to find real causes and cures, is substantially setting back improvements in the prevalence of these conditions and is costing lives! A recent Indian study found that 93% of those who had COPD were NON-SMOKERS. The same applies to lung cancer. When there were more smokers than non smokers, smokers accounted for most lung cancers but Lung cancers have continued to increase despite there being less smokers. You don’t need to be a scientist to work out who now accounts for most lung cancers.

Stop blaming everything on smoking - it is simply not true - Stop it!

elite50 says...
10:54pm Sat 17 Nov 12

penhale wrote:
elite50 wrote:
penhale wrote:
I have to agree that smoking is a masive killer but where would this country be without smokers.
The government profess to be hiking the price of cigarettes to persuade people to stop smoking, what if everyone stopped smoking today, 12 billion quid would be lost in revenue.
The governments excuse of trying to price cigarettes out of the reach of many people is nonsense, what they are really doing is preying on peoples addictions.
Many people moan about smokers, drinkers and drivers but without their billions paid for their habits this country would be bankrupt.
Somebody will have to make up the shortfall so to all the whingers out their, start saving your pennies, as soon as drinking, driving and smoking is priced so high that people will be forced to give up you will be having all your taxes hiked to cover the loss.
Using your figures it would cost about 4.5 Quid a week for every person in Britain if cigarettes were banned.
How much do you think it costs every-one to treat the people dying of cancer, losing time off of work etc. in the pursuit of their "tobbacco fix".
This is not a judgement (I used to smoke) but a realistic question.
Of course if tobbacco was banned their would be a "prohibition" type mafia in place very soon.
How do you arrive at your figure of £4 to £5 per week, are you quoting this from the whole population of 61 million.
I used the figure of 50 million

penhale says...
11:06pm Sat 17 Nov 12

elite50 wrote:
penhale wrote:
elite50 wrote:
penhale wrote:
I have to agree that smoking is a masive killer but where would this country be without smokers.
The government profess to be hiking the price of cigarettes to persuade people to stop smoking, what if everyone stopped smoking today, 12 billion quid would be lost in revenue.
The governments excuse of trying to price cigarettes out of the reach of many people is nonsense, what they are really doing is preying on peoples addictions.
Many people moan about smokers, drinkers and drivers but without their billions paid for their habits this country would be bankrupt.
Somebody will have to make up the shortfall so to all the whingers out their, start saving your pennies, as soon as drinking, driving and smoking is priced so high that people will be forced to give up you will be having all your taxes hiked to cover the loss.
Using your figures it would cost about 4.5 Quid a week for every person in Britain if cigarettes were banned.
How much do you think it costs every-one to treat the people dying of cancer, losing time off of work etc. in the pursuit of their "tobbacco fix".
This is not a judgement (I used to smoke) but a realistic question.
Of course if tobbacco was banned their would be a "prohibition" type mafia in place very soon.
How do you arrive at your figure of £4 to £5 per week, are you quoting this from the whole population of 61 million.
I used the figure of 50 million
Sounds good on paper but once you minus off the unemployed, housewives, disabled and many other groups it reduces the 50 million considerably, plus would everybody want to stump up an extra 20 quid per month, 240 quid per year, could people afford this extra layout, would they want too, i dont think that would rest easy with a lot of people.

ashleycross says...
8:23am Sun 18 Nov 12

We need to be licencing smokers so that they don't buy cigarettes to sell on to children to fund their own habit and basically keep recruiting new smokers. The whole problem would rapidly die out then. The revenue from tobacco sales would be plenty enough to fund licencing of smokers.

chas says...
8:42am Sun 18 Nov 12

ashleycross. Alcohol Concern copy Tobacco Concern so if smokers need a licence then drinkers would also need a licence.

DorsetDribble says...
1:51pm Sun 18 Nov 12

Why cant they just leave everyone alone? I mean you don't see Fat people being refused treatment for eating too much, just like smoking it's self inflicted, all this talk of stop treating ill people is a clear breach of human rights! You know those rights?? the one's that keep bombers, murderers and rapists in OUR country because of EU Lunacy!

anti wrinkle says...
5:12pm Sun 18 Nov 12

I saw Santa today i told him he was a month early
I told him how good I had been
I stopped smoking,
he said he would bring me some nice prezzies,

I told him about you ,you idiot, I told him what a **** you were
he said you are getting **** all off of him this Xmas.

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