Using NRT doubles your chances of quitting smoking successfully

This Quit Month (October 2024), people who smoke are being encouraged to access support to stop from the HSE. June Bradley and her family used the HSE Quit service and free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and haven’t looked back since.

NRT is free as part of a package of evidence-based supports through the HSE Quit service. NRT are licensed medicines that safely give you lower levels of nicotine. They help you cope with cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Evidence shows the best way to quit smoking is with NRT and 1-to-1 support. The HSE QUIT service gives you a tailored plan with constant support. Quitting smoking is difficult but trained stop smoking advisors will help you prepare for those tricky early days and weeks.

The HSE provides free NRT inhalers, sprays, mists, lozenges and patches. You can use any type of NRT that you want and your stop smoking advisor will help you decide which is best for you.

NRT provides just enough nicotine to relieve cravings and withdrawal symptoms while reducing the dependence on nicotine gradually. NRT does not contain the poisonous and cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke, such as tar and carbon monoxide. NRT products from the HSE are checked for safety by the Health Products Regulatory Agency (HPRA).

June Bradley from Dublin 3, who smoked for more than 40 years, tells us how the service and NRT helped herself, her niece and her husband to quit cigarettes. “I was smoking for forty years and had tried everything to quit, spending a fortune on vapes which became a second addiction. I had resigned myself to probably smoking for the rest of my life before I got COVID early this year. A few weeks later I was told I had very high cholesterol and that frightened me a lot. So, from that day I picked a date in my head and started to plan.

“My niece who was also quitting told me about the service that the HSE ran, which provides free nicotine replacement therapy and support. I used the gum and spray to start with which helped massively in cutting my cravings and have since cut down to the lowest level for the spray. My niece and her husband have also been helped by their advisor Susan to quit. I’m 8 weeks quit now and they are both at 12 weeks, we’ve all found it a struggle at times but the support from the HSE and each other has made it easier to quit than other times. The service has really saved three members of my family, and my son is now seriously considering it too after seeing the progress we’ve made.”

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, says: “We know that tobacco products continue to cause a vast range of catastrophic illnesses in our country and to kill one in two smokers. We continue to work to bring our smoking rate to less than 5% of our adult population and to zero for our children. Over the lifetime of this government we have made great strides in our efforts to tackle the smoking rate. I’m delighted to say that we continue to fund NRT programmes across the country, which will allow people a free medically tested way in which to quit and quit for good.”

Dr Paul Kavanagh, HSE Public Health Medicine Lead with the Tobacco Free Ireland Programme, explains: “HSE QUIT service delivers care which is safe, clinically sound and most of all which works. In line with recommendations in the National Stop Smoking Guidelines, and with support from the Department of Health, we are pleased to offer free NRT to people using our services.

“We know that using NRT during a quit attempt increases the likelihood of quit success. Since it became widely available across our services in 2023, the impact of free NRT for people using our support to quit has been game-changing. There’s been a 50% increase in NRT use among people using our service. People who use NRT double their chances of quitting successfully so this is a huge step forward, with 6 in 10 people* using the service availing of the free NRT on offer.”

Martina Blake, National Lead, HSE Tobacco Free Ireland Programme, says: “While smoking rates in Ireland were falling, the recent Healthy Ireland Survey showed us that the reductions in the number of people smoking have stalled. This is worrying and we have responded by improving the HSE QUIT service by making NRT available free of charge. 

“Unfortunately, too many people who smoke try to quit alone and don’t access the help they need to increase their chances of finally quitting. This QUIT month, the QUIT services across the country is here to help. Take the opportunity to work with our trained quit advisors to create a personalised stop smoking plan tailored to fit your lifestyle.”

Quit supports available

HSE Quit services are free and available all year round. The Quit service provides personalised, evidence-based plans, tailored to your needs, using any combination of the support options:

• An online-personalised Quit plan where you can track your progress
• Face to face and group support from local community based services
• Text message 50100 or phone support from the Freephone Quitline 1800 201 203
• A free Quit Kit to help you prepare
• Advice on Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and stop smoking medication
• Daily tips and support from people who have quit and who are trying to quit on the You Can Quit Facebook page.

Top tips for quitting smoking successfully

1. Don’t feel you need to go it alone. HSE Quit is there for you, to help you take this step with simple, practical and effective help, maximising your chance of staying quit for good. Staff will provide non-judgemental support and encouragement.
2. Focus on the goal to stay smoke-free for one day at a time until you get to 28 days. Once people get to that goal, they are up to 5 times more likely to stay quit for good.
3. Use stop-smoking medicine, like nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). This is a safe, effective and a clinically sound way of dealing with cravings.