A major drive is being launched to cut smoking in Scotland's health blackspot where the failure rate among smokers trying to quit is nearly twice the national average.
A major drive is being launched to cut smoking in Scotland's health blackspot where the failure rate among smokers trying to quit is nearly twice the national average.
All parts of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's stop smoking campaign will be unified to streamline services which target the estimated 280,000 smokers in the region.
The Smokefree Services programme signifies "one of the most determined and comprehensive" attempts to stop smoking among Scots.
It comes after recent figures showed that 65% of smokers who tried to give up in the Greater Glasgow area in 2006 were smoking again within a month of beginning a cessation programme. This is the highest early failure rate in Scotland - the national average is 35%.
For those who stick with their stop-smoking plan, around 16% managed to give up cigarettes over three months, a result which is just short of the national average.
But the number of people who failed to quit after three months was higher in Greater Glasgow than any other area of Scotland at 12%, compared with a 9% national average.
Health chiefs hope that if they bring all stop-smoking services together - from pharmacy-based help to school awareness programmes - the number of people choosing to give up will increase.
Dr Linda de Caestecker, director of public health at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: "Cutting smoking levels in one of the NHSGGC's top priorities.
"Around 29% of deaths at all ages are attributable to smoking and here in Glasgow and Clyde we have more smokers than the Scottish average.
"It's absolutely vital, therefore, that we make it as easy as possible for people to give up.
"Smokefree Services is all about making sure that, whoever you are, whatever your age or gender or wherever you live, you can get all the help you need."
It is estimated that about 1.1 million Scots smoke, just over 27% of the population. In Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the average is 30%, peaking at 52% in Barlanark and Easterhouse and dipping to 18.6% in East Dunbartonshire.
Smokefree Services will have a presence in every GP surgery and pharmacy across the Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Those specifically targeted will include pregnant women and schoolchildren.
In February, a leading health expert warned the Scottish Government that the smoking ban may ultimately have no effect on the number of people quitting cigarettes.
Dr Laurence Gruer, director of public health for NHS Scotland, said uptake of cessation services had fallen to levels before the ban on smoking in public places after a peak of take-up in the run up to its introduction.
However, a study showed that the ban had produced an 86% reduction in pollution in Scotland's pubs and another showed a 17% drop in hospital admissions for coronaries since it came into effect. Before the ban, the annual reduction had been just 3%.
