Health Promotion Board Strengthens Smoking Cessation Support to Help More Smokers Kick the Habit
Over 130 new smoking cessation touchpoints added in the community
Singapore, 30 May 2015 – More support is now available for those who are looking to quit smoking. Over the past year, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has added more than 130 new smoking cessation touchpoints in the community.
To ensure that smoking cessation counselling is readily available for smokers, HPB has worked with partners, including pharmacies such as Guardian, Unity and Watsons, to boost the number of I Quit touchpoints to 283, an 89% increase from 2014. By 2020, this figure will reach 600. These I Quit touchpoints will offer free smoking cessation counselling to smokers who sign up for the ‘I Quit 28-Day Countdown’ programme.
Smokers often consider the journey towards being smoke-free to be a daunting one. Studies have shown that it takes a smoker an average of six to seven attempts before they can successfully quit smoking1. With support from their loved ones and professional assistance from healthcare workers such as Quit Consultants and pharmacists, a smoker is more likely to quit and remain smoke-free.
While the National Health Surveillance Survey (NHSS) showed Singapore’s smoking prevalence rate has stabilised at 13.3 per cent in 2013, there is a need to further drive down smoking prevalence levels as smoking remains one of the most preventable cause of death in the world today. HPB aims to reduce adult smoking prevalence in Singapore to 12 per cent by 2020.
I Quit 2015
This year, HPB launched its annual National Tobacco Control campaign, I Quit, at a walkathon event, which saw some 300 participants pledging to lead a smoke-free life in commemoration of World No Tobacco Day.
Participants were joined by Guest-of-Honour, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Parliamentary Secretary for Health, who flagged off the event held at West Coast Park this afternoon.
This year marks the fifth edition of I Quit, a national anti-smoking social movement introduced by HPB in 2011. This movement adopts a community-based but personalised approach to build a network of support that helps smokers make their first or next attempt to quit smoking.
In 2014, I Quit garnered increasing interest, with 10,000 smokers signing up for the ‘I Quit 28-Day Countdown’, a 570 per cent increase from the inaugural I Quit 2011 edition. More than half (57%) of those who participated in 2014 now smoke less or have successfully quit smoking.
Social support is known as an important determinant of success in smoking cessation efforts – studies have indicated those who receive support from their partners and others in their social circle during their quit journey are more likely to stop smoking.2 Social support also proved to be important in prompting I Quit 2014 participants to embark on their quit journey:
- 40% of those who successfully completed the I Quit programme signed up upon encouragement from their friends
- Additionally, 86% participants who signed up at the I Quit road shows agreed that being able to seek help from HPB’s QuitLine consultants motivated them to register
Recognising the strong impact that supporters have and the key role they play in encouraging smokers to kick the habit, this year’s I Quit campaign will seek to equip people within a smokers’ circle of influence - family, friends, colleagues, health ambassadors, counsellors and healthcare professionals - with tips on how to support smokers during their quit journeys via social media and at roadshows throughout the year.
This year, HPB aims to once again encourage 10,000 smokers to take the pledge to start their quit journey by signing up for the I Quit 28-Day Countdown.
In addition, supermarket chains, Cold Storage, Jasons, Market Place, NTUC Fairprice, Prime Supermarket and Sheng Siong have joined in the fight against tobacco use in support of World No Tobacco Day this year by voluntarily not selling tobacco products on Sunday, 31 May 2015
Issued by Health Promotion Board