A healthier heart starts today as the HSE urges smokers in South East to break up with cigarettes this Valentine’s Day

Show your heart some love this Valentine’s Day by Choosing National Smoking Day on Ash Wednesday (18 February) as your QUIT date.

The HSE is reminding people in the Carlow-Kilkenny/Tipperary South and Waterford/Wexford areas that HSE Stop Smoking Advisors are ready to help you start your QUIT plan and support you every step of the way.

The HSE Stop Smoking service is now helping more people quit successfully than ever before. In the last five years, the number of people using Stop Smoking Services has doubled and the proportion of those who are successful quit at the end of their programme has increased by 50%. HSE Stop Smoking services provide people with free access to support and free NRT, which offer people the best chances of quitting for good.

The HSE Stop Smoking Services are free and available all year round. The HSE provide personalised, evidence-based stop smoking plans, tailored to people’s individual needs. When you engage with the HSE Stop Smoking service you can avail of:

• Free one to one behavioural support with a trained stop smoking adviser,
• Free Carbon Monoxide Testing,
• Free Nicotine replacement therapy,
• Follow up appointments for one full year.

Senior Health Promotion and Improvement Officer and Lead for Tobacco and Smoking Cessation in the South East Áine O’ Gorman says: “Smoking is a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. If you smoke, giving up will reduce your risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) or having a stroke. A heart attack is a serious medical emergency where the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly blocked. A stroke is a life-threatening condition when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off by a blockage or a ruptured blood vessel.

“We are encouraging people to consider giving up smoking today and give their heart and health a chance with the support of the HSE Stop Smoking Services.”

Judith Carbery, from New Ross, Co Wexford, has successfully quit smoking with the help of the HSE Community Stop Smoking Service. Judith’s main motivation to quit was not only her health, but her desire to treat her husband Frank to a special trip for his 70th birthday. After only 8 months of her QUIT journey, Judith had enough money saved and proudly surprised her husband Frank with a Caribbean Cruise on St Valentine’s Day. Judith described every step of her QUIT journey as a positive experience due to the support of her local, non-judgemental and encouraging Stop Smoking Adviser who arranged a tailor-made plan to help Judith reach her QUIT goals.

Judith and Frank both recommend that “anyone who is even thinking of Quitting, to just take the first step to contact their local stop smoking adviser as the benefits of Stopping Smoking are life changing”.

ENDs

Free clinics are available in Primary Care Centres and venues across the Carlow-Kilkenny/Tipperary South, Waterford/Wexford and Dublin South/Wicklow areas. Visit Quit.ie to find your local clinic. You can contact your local Stop Smoking Adviser today to take your first step (see https://www2.hse.ie/services/stop-smoking-services/)

Email: southeaststopsmokingsupport@hse.ie