Tag Archives: smoking

CLARE smokers are being encouraged to avail of one of the three local free HSE cessation clinics to quit this addiction in the New Year, writes Dan Danaher. Three of the 18 clinics that operate throughout the Mid-West can be accessed in Ennis, Kilrush and Ennistymon. This HSE service is free and staffed by qualified stop smoking advisers who provide one-to-one support to people who are quitting smoking or thinking about quitting. Just over a year on from the launch of the Quit Mid West service, the HSE standard treatment programme to help people stop smoking is now available in communities right across the Mid West. The service is available by phone, by video link and in person and is staffed by a team of qualified professionals who are all based here in the region. The treatment support programme includes an initial assessment of nicotine-dependency, weekly support during the first four weeks of quitting, advice on using Nicotine Replacement Therapy …

Kilrush Youthreach and North West Clare Family Resource Centre Youth Club in Ennistymon are looking for local support to put them in the final shake up for the Irish Cancer Society’s X-HALE Youth Awards. The film project, The Other Side is the Kilrush entry, while the Ennistymon club is competing with its film The End of the Line. The youth groups are calling for public support via online viewing to win one of the top awards on offer. X-HALE is an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society which aims to empower young people to tackle smoking in their communities and raise awareness about the dangers of smoking among their peers. The X-HALE Youth Awards national showcase event in the Light House Cinema in July will be the finale of months of hard work by youth groups nationwide in preparing short films and projects to encourage young people to be smoke free. Ahead of the national event which will see the …

The dangers of smoking in the home and the importance of having working smoke alarms installed will be the key messages promoted during National Fire Safety Week. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government will host the 15th annual all-island initiative from Monday next, in association with the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service and locally with Clare County Fire & Rescue Service. “Smoking at Home Can Cause Fatal Fires”, is the theme of this year’s event, which takes into account the significant number of domestic fires started each year as a result of burning cigarettes. “Unfortunately on average 36 people die in Ireland each year as a result of fire. House fires account for the vast majority of these fires,” said Adrian Kelly, Clare Chief Fire Officer. “The cause of these fires ranged from heavily sooted and blocked chimneys, smoking in the home, burning rubbish, electrical faults and most alarmingly from children playing with matches or candles. …

A NATIONWIDE quit smoking pharmacy service for the public has been launched by the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly. Smoking, and related illnesses, is a major public health issue with 5,200 people dying in Ireland from diseases caused by tobacco use every year. 1 in every 2 smokers will die from smoking-related diseases. The service, which is available in community pharmacies nationwide from Ash Wednesday, is supported by the Irish Cancer Society and the HSE. As part of the service, pharmacists will assist smokers by giving advice on quitting and the health-related benefits. Pharmacists can also give accurate information and advice on options for quitting, including nicotine replacement therapies, which have been proven to double smokers’ chances of success. “This is a great initiative by pharmacists who are using their training and skills to help smokers make that quit attempt. Let there be no doubt – the single best thing a smoker can do for their health is to …

By Owen Ryan YOU may not have heard of Forest Éireann before, a group that labels itself ‘The Voice of the Smoker in Ireland’. Representative John Mallon is currently touring the country to fight against plain packaging for tobacco products and when he came to Ennis on Tuesday, he introduced some of his arguments, some of them rather bizarre, to The Champion. At one stage he likened the treatment of smokers in Irish society to that of Jews under the Nazi regime, while he made some claims about the role of smoking in cancer which wouldn’t tally with the views of experts. Forest Éireann receives funding from tobacco companies, which is hardly surprising given some of his comments, but he says he doesn’t personally benefit from his campaigning and isn’t an employee of the group. He took up the cause around the time that the ban on smoking in the workplace was coming in. “Back in 2003 I was sort …

SUPPORT is important when people try to quit smoking and a new Quit Tobacco group run by the HSE is about to begin in Shannon. Smoking cessation specialist Mary McMahon said that giving up nicotine is hard enough to do with support, but the odds are awful without some backing. She also says that even if people fail to kick the habit, having tried makes it easier to do in the future. “Without any help its so hard that only one to three per cent of smokers who quit will still have quit at the end of a year. But the more support you get the easier it is to quit. In the UK they would aim to get at least a 15% quit rate at the end of a year. What happens is that 38-40% would quit with help and support for four weeks, but the more often they practice it and the longer the quit attempt, they bring …