Four in ten of the 93,000 smokers in Scotland who quit in the last four months say the spectre of covid-19 made them give up.

Across the UK more than one million people have stopped, amid fears that smokers are more vulnerable to covid-19, a survey from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) found.

Results for Scotland provided to healthandcare.scot reveal that 41% of those who had quit in the past four months said it was in direct response to coronavirus. Smoking accounts for 9,000 deaths and 100,000 hospital visits a year in Scotland alone.

Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said the figures were promising but called for funding for cessation services to be maintained if the country hopes to achieve its goal of being smoke-free by 2034.   

President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Professor Angela Thomas OBE said she was “very encouraged” by the latest figures:

“The message is getting through that smoking can lead to very serious health complications, especially when coupled with an infectious respiratory disease like covid-19.

“But there is still much more work to do, in order to take Scotland closer to being smoke free. That is why we support smoking cessation campaigns including Quit Your Way Scotland."

In 2013 the Scottish Government pledged to make Scotland ‘tobacco-free’ by 2034. At the time, smoking accounted for more than 13,000 deaths each year and was the main cause of early death.

Dr Sue Pound, vice-president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, added: “Stopping smoking is the single most important thing a smoker can do to improve their health.

“It will reduce their risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and dementia.

“In addition there are financial benefits in that, for example, a 20-a-day smoker paying £7.50 a packet will save over £2,700 a year.

“It’s fair to say, therefore, that there are many positive reasons for quitting smoking, and we would encourage people to find out more online or by speaking with their GP.”

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