From this pharmacy CPD module on smoking cessation you will learn:
- How smoking affects the body
- The barriers that stop patients from quitting smoking
- The range of treatments available to help patients quit
- The effect smoking has on prescribed medicines
Download this module – this includes the 5-minute test – here.
Smoking is the leading cause of avoidable death worldwide. In the UK, smoking has enormous social, economic and health-related costs. This has prompted the government to increase expenditure on public information campaigns, standardise cigarette packs and make tobacco less affordable.
In the UK, around 96,000 people die from diseases caused by smoking each year. Smoking accounts for more than one-third of respiratory deaths, one-quarter of cancer deaths and around one-seventh of cardiovascular disease-related deaths.
Banning smoking in public spaces was a major step forward in protecting people at work – and the general public – from second-hand exposure to the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke.
Partly as a result, the number of people who smoke has decreased significantly over the last four decades. Fewer than one in five adults in the UK now smoke (19% of men and 15% of women) – which corresponds to around 9.1 million people.
Smoking prevalence is highest among 25-34-year-olds, with 24% of this age group smoking, and lowest among over 60s, with 10% smoking. Of those who do smoke, it is estimated that around 30-40% make a quit attempt in any given year.
Click here to complete this course and collect your CPD certificate.
