Protect health and money - quit smoking

With the start of the new year just a few days away, many people are still busy trying to decide what resolutions to make for 2006.

The European Union-wide campaign Help For A life Without Tobacco is urging smokers to make quitting the habit their resolution, to "recover the life, health and freedom" that they once enjoyed.

The €72 million, four-year anti-smoking EU campaign aims to encourage as many people as possible to kick their habit and save money while safeguarding their health and that of others.

In a statement, the local campaign organisers said smoking cessation classes have been available in Malta since 1998 as one of the tools used by the Health Promotion Department to assist people who want to stop smoking.

Moreover, the local authorities have been "leaders" in the legislation, education and promotion of a life without tobacco. "The services available within the Health Promotion Department provide quitters with the right skills and tools needed for a life without tobacco. So in 2006, go on, do yourself and others a favour," the statement said. Such a resolution would quickly make itself felt.

"In only a few hours, your lungs will start to recover and the nicotine will gradually disappear from your organism. In only a few weeks, your blood will circulate more freely through your veins, giving a well-needed boost to your energy levels. In only a few months, thanks to your improved lung activity, coughing and breathlessness will also be a thing of the past.

And after a year, you will have cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by almost a quarter."

The quitter will also see a difference in his bank balance. With the average price of a packet of cigarettes being Lm1.50, a person who smokes half a packet a day will save more than Lm270 a year, a one packet-a-day smoker will save more than Lm540 while anyone who smokes two packets of cigarettes daily will save more than Lm1,000 in a year.