Highest proportion of people quit smoking in Yorkshire than any other region in England

Yorkshire saw a higher proportion of people successfully quit smoking than any other region in England, according to analysis from Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, 65% of people in Yorkshire who tried to stop smoking with the support of a local stop smoking service reported they were still smokefree a month later, exceeding the national average of 54%. This represents nearly 11,000 people in Yorkshire, totalling over 10% of all the quits in England.

A successful quitter is defined by the NHS as someone who has reported not smoking for at least 15-28 days and who has continued to remain smokefree for a further 28 days from this date.

Although Yorkshire has the highest proportion of successful quits, Yorkshire and the Humber has the second highest smoking rate in England. This means that although quit rates are high, not enough people are coming forward for support.

Every week, 90 people in Yorkshire are told they have a smoking-related cancer, making tobacco the biggest cause of preventable cancer in the region.

Yorkshire Cancer Research is committed to helping prevent smoking-related cancers by ensuring more people in Yorkshire can access life-changing stop smoking support that will help them quit smoking for good.

Evidence shows that people are up to three times more likely to stop smoking with behavioural support and stop smoking treatment. The Yorkshire Cancer Research Stop Smoking Service provides support and advice, helping participants to develop coping strategies and use stop-smoking aids to increase success rates.

Angela, from High Beston, joined the service after a tumour was found in her kidney and she wanted to improve her health before having surgery to remove it. She said: “I was a smoker for over 50 years, and I had always wanted to quit but never knew how. When I saw that Yorkshire Cancer Research had a stop-smoking service, I decided it was time to do something about it."

Yorkshire Cancer Research also funds experts across the region to find the most effective ways to stop people smoking. The charity has funded £2.7 million of stop smoking services in the region and has overall helped more than 3,400 people successfully quit smoking.

This includes the South Yorkshire QUIT programme which offered smoking cessation support to people in hospital alongside their routine care.

Funded by the charity and delivered by NHS South Yorkshire, the QUIT programme has helped over 2,500 people successfully quit smoking since 2021 and is an important learning model for other areas in Yorkshire and beyond.

Research shows that alongside support from a stop smoking advisor, people who switch to a vaping product are twice as likely to quit smoking compared to those who use other nicotine products.

The QUIT programme tested the use of vaping products in supporting people with severe mental illnesses to quit smoking across services in Barnsley. Between June 2023 and May 2024, the provision of vaping products supported more people to quit smoking and increased the number of people who went on to successfully achieve a four-week quit.

In local stop smoking services in 2023/2024, 71% of people in Yorkshire who used a vaping product as part of their quit attempt successfully stopped smoking for good.

Joseph Cresswell, who works as a Stop Smoking Specialist at the charity, said: “I have found that vaping products are helpful for those who have attempted to stop smoking before, because they offer a convenient experience that physically replicates the motion of smoking a cigarette. They give people the confidence to quit and not look back.

If you would like to find out more about how Yorkshire Cancer Research is helping Yorkshire to become smoke free, follow the link below.