Enfield and Haringey link up for anti-smoking campaign (From Enfield Independent)

Enfield and Haringey link up for anti-smoking campaign

1:06pm Friday 22nd June 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

Two London boroughs have teamed up to launch a stop-smoking organisation in a bid to help people quit the habit.

Enfield and Haringey Councils have set up the new Tobacco Control Alliance, which aims to lower smoking rates, and warn and help businesses of the law relating to tobacco.

More than 1,500 people have used Enfield’s six-week stop-smoking service in the last year, and programme manager Julie Boyd said she wanted to improve on the figure.

She said: “The service is extremely successful. Stopping smoking is not only good for health but it is also good for the wallet. “We are not complacent – hitting the target is great – but we want to exceed it and help as many people as possible to quit this damaging and expensive habit.”

More than 2,100 people used Haringey’s service in the last year, and a programme to tackle the early signs of lung cancer has been targeted at groups who are known to be more likely to smoke, such as over-40s from Asian, Irish and Turkish communities.

Haringey Council’s cabinet member for health, Councillor Bernice Vanier, said: “We have 50,000 smokers in Haringey so helping to reduce smoking will make a huge impact on inequalities in Haringey.

“The Tobacco Control Alliance will help us take a joined-up approach to doing this.”