Smokers in Rochdale cost the NHS more than £12m a year, it has been revealed.
Figures released by charity Action Against Smoking also suggest nearly £14m annually is being lost due to workers taking fag breaks.
And it is estimated a further £12m is being wasted through sick days as a result of ill health caused smoking.
The figures have been released as local health bosses launch a drive to help smokers kick the habit in 2012.
Social Worker Laura Miller from Castleton hopes to quit this year after becoming pregnant with her second child.
She said: "I have a 14-month-old son who follows me around the house and would catch me smoking, which made me feel guilty.
"Going out to the back garden for a cigarette became a struggle because he’d want to come outside and play, which wasn’t practical in the rain.
"I smoked 20 a day throughout my first pregnancy which I think has something to do with my son catching coughs and colds all the time.
"When I found out I was pregnant with my second child I knew I had to stop."
After speaking to her midwife Laura was put in touch with TASK stop smoking service who helped provided nicotine replacement therapy.
She added: "It’s been eight weeks since I last had a cigarette and I’m feeling much healthier these days.
"It hasn’t been easy but with the right support I know I can stay smoke free forever.
"It’s important that I do this not only for myself but so that I can be around to look after my children."
Latest available statistics show 378 people in Rochdale died as a result of smoking in 2009. A new NHS Quit Kit has been developed which contains practical tools and advice to help smokers quit smoking for good.
Items include a health and wealth wheel which helps quitters calculate how much they are saving and the improvements they’ll see to their well being.
It also contains MP3 downloads which are scientifically proven to reduce cravings and a ‘tangle’ toy to help keep hands busy.
There is also information on other free quitting help such as local Stop Smoking Services and how to sign up for motivational text messages to their mobile phone.
Ann Howarth, service lead of TASK Stop Smoking Service, which is part of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Quitting is not easy, but it can be made less difficult with the right support and tools.
"We want to help as many people break the cycle of addiction and quit for good."
You can pick up an NHS Quit Kit from participating pharmacies. To find your nearest stockist text SEARCH and your postcode to 88088 or search online at www.nhs.uk/smokefree . Or to talk to someone about stopping smoking call 0161 655 1581.
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"I smoked 20 a day throughout my first pregnancy which I think has something to do with my son catching coughs and colds all the time."
Pathetic. Why should my taxes pay for the healthcare of irresponsible people like this?
They could make a start by getting rid of the doorway on Water Street, at the side of the 'Fashion Corner' building. I have yet to pass there without seeing a huddle of council workers pufffing away on cigarettes.
Are they paid for these absences from their work stations? Who picks up the discarded butts from the gutter and footpath? Oh, yes - the council cleansing department - in other words, we do, the council tax payer, who presumably are also paying their wages whilst they are smoking in the street.
"I smoked 20 a day throughout my first pregnancy which I think has something to do with my son catching coughs and colds all the time."
Awful character!, the epitome of selfishness.
Do smokers really know how much it’s costing them?
On average a smoker has to earn £3,000 a year before deductions in order to fund their habit.
For the majority of local smokers this isn’t a problem. (working to pay for their habit that is)
Just how is this stupid figure calculated? I've done a survey and 93% of the world think it's made up.
Non-smokers should get paid more than their smoking counterparts.
The health fascists are hard at work again telling half a story. Maybe some facts would be useful: -
1) Excise and Tax revenue generated from the sale of tobacco products in the UK for 2010/11 is £11.1 BILLION.
2) The cost of treating smokers via the NHS is estimated to be around £2.7 BILLION a year.
3) The TUC has calculated that employers worked nearly two billion hours of unpaid overtime last year which is enough to create 1 million extra full-time jobs, estimated at £29.2 BILLION.
Regards,
Harry'smate, Rochdale - EVERYONE is entitled to a 15 minute break after 2 hours work, even non-smokers, this article is a load of nonsense. If non-smokers choose to forfeit what they are entitled to, then that's their problem.
If smokers can go 8 hours without a cig whilst asleep, why not 8 hours whilst they are awake? Self discipline perhaps?
Don’t tell me it’s a drug they can’t do without.
If they were bed ridden in hospital for a month they would not be able to smoke.
And many have been!
Anyone who believes that it is Only smokers that take breaks at work is a fool, these so called stats are absurd. Anti smoking Propaganda yet again, I don't know how the anti smoking lobby can even talk about work, after all, the Smoking ban they helped to force into law has and is costing thousands of jobs and will continue to do so until it is Reformed in favour of Choice. As for the Taxpayer Funded Quango that is ASH, When has any of their "claims" been correct, time for them to go.
smokers this smokers that
how much do drunks cost this town and yobs
and if everyone did stop smoking today this country would be @@@@ed
causenearly all the money comes from fags