Following the huge success of NHS Birmingham East and North’s campaign challenging people to quit smoking last autumn, the ‘Fight Back’ campaign is returning to the streets from 10th May.
The original campaign featured mobile exhibition units showing a film by the renowned directors Rankin and Chris Cottam, as well as posters with the face of a bloodied and beaten-up man and the tagline “When you smoke, it’s your insides that get beaten up.”
The result was a 68% increase in the number of locals setting a smoking quit date with their pharmacist, in comparison to the same period the year before. There was also an impressive 53% increase in the number of people who succeeded in meeting their four-week quit date.
The campaign will again be supported by local pharmacies and smokers will be encouraged to make use of the high quality advice and practical support available to help them to through the pharmacy stop smoking service.
Shazia Alam, Pharmacy Manager at the Co-Operative Pharmacy in Acocks Green commented: “The Fight Back campaign made a big difference to the number of people using our stop smoking service. We were able to help many more people quit smoking and it’s great news that the campaign has returned – I’m looking forward to welcoming many more people and working with them to help them quit.”
Making a return will be the shocking film created by Rankin and Chris featuring a smoker being beaten to a pulp by an invisible assailant, (a representation of the damage smoking does). The clip will be shown at mobile exhibition units from 15th May, challenging people to “Fight Back. Quit Now”, and not to let smoking ‘beat them up’. At these units people can get further information about quitting and test their carbon monoxide levels and lung age.
Aimed at men who smoke, the message is clear: you wouldn’t let yourself be beaten up on the outside like this, so why allow cigarettes do it to your insides? The campaign acknowledges that it’s a tough fight but by giving up smoking you can take charge of your life again. Text BEAT to 80800 to start fighting back and you will be sent information and details of your nearest participating pharmacy. Local pharmacies close to where you work and live can offer one-to-one support and advice, as well as provide over the counter Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) i.e. patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers (free to those exempt from prescription charges) for up to 12 weeks.
NHS Birmingham East and North is determined to build on its success to date in hitting targets, and achieve the lowest smoking prevalence of any core city in the UK by 2018. ‘Fight Back’ is a big part of reaching that goal.
Sally Brooks, Head of Social Marketing at NHS Birmingham East and North said: “The success of the last campaign was really inspiring. We were confident that the approach would work but it was great to see such a huge increase in people trying to quit. This second phase is important to remind people about the service and encourage more people to give it a go and fight back.”
By concentrating the campaign on Shard End, Kingstanding, Tyburn, Stockland Green, Washwood Heath, Hodge Hill, Acocks Green, Erdington, South Yardley, Stechford and Yardley North and Sheldon, NHS Birmingham East and North is looking to make a significant, positive impact on the health of the population. These areas have a high smoking prevalence and suffer greatly from health inequalities including the highest overall cancer and respiratory mortality rates, as well as the greatest incidence of cancer, stroke, respiratory, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic heart disease and emergency hospital admissions.
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Enquiries
For more information, contact the communications team on 0121 380 0620
Text service
By texting the word ‘BEAT’ to 80800, smokers will be sent information and details of their nearest participating pharmacy. Local pharmacies near where you work and live can offer one-to-one support and advice, and provide over the counter Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) i.e. patches, gum, lozenges, inhalators (free to those exempt from prescription charges) for up to 12 weeks.
Rankin
Known the world over for his iconic and intimate portraits and high profile pop videos, Rankin is not one to shy away from difficult subject matters. He has addressed issues from domestic violence to body image and shot prominent charity campaigns for Amnesty International, Everyman, Special Olympics, Oxfam, Teenage Cancer Trust, Refuge and Breast Cancer Awareness to name but a few. The work to be seen in east and north Birmingham this month will be his first tackling smoking.
About NHS Birmingham East and North
NHS Birmingham East and North is one of 152 primary care trusts within the English NHS. As a PCT it is responsible for the wise investment of public money to ensure health improvement, access to health services and where appropriate the provision of health services to a local population of some 438,000 people, across 17 wards across north and east Birmingham.
In summary we organise and fund the delivery of health care with the involvement of local people, maximising health outcomes for every pound spent – this is often referred to as commissioning.
Background
Smoking statistics
Smoking is one of the most significant contributing factors to low life expectancy, health inequalities and ill health, particularly cancer and coronary heart disease. It kills an estimated 86,500 people a year in England (one fifth of all deaths) and leads to an extra 560,000 admissions to hospital. In addition, smoking related illnesses account for 8 million consultations with GPs and over 7 million prescriptions each year.
Smoking disproportionately affects the least well-off, and more than half the difference in life expectancy between rich and poor in England is due to smoking. People on lower incomes are more likely to be highly nicotine dependent.
73% of smokers in the UK said that they would like to give up smoking completely.
Source: Evaluation of Stop Smoking Services in NHS Birmingham East & North, April 2009
Nationally, despite the numbers of people setting a quit date increasing overall from 600,000 in 2006/7 to 680,000 in 2007/8, the percentage of successful quitters after 4 weeks has dropped from 53% to 52% in the same time period. This trend has been consistent since 2003/4.
In the NHS Birmingham East and North area, the numbers of people setting a quit date also increased from 5928 in 2006/7 to 6975 in 2007/8, but similarly, the percentage of successful quitters after 4 weeks also dropped from 59% in 2006/7 to 52% in 2007/8.
The estimated current smoking prevalence within NHS Birmingham East and North is 28% or 84,000 people. Shard End has the highest prevalence within NHS Birmingham East and North of 38% or 7,450 people.
The NHS Birmingham East and North Stop Smoking Service
The Stop Smoking Service achieved its annual target of 3,641 people quitting for four weeks or more during 2008/09. The target was reached by smokers attending the range of stop smoking services provided across east and north Birmingham. This includes attending regular meetings at pharmacies, GP practices, and ‘Drop In’ clinics and receiving support from a stop smoking advisor.
