The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7178 p839-846
15 December 2001

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Pharmacists are helpful, say smokers who want to quit

Pharmacists can play a key role in helping people to stop smoking, according to the results of a recent telephone survey.

Of smokers who had contacted a pharmacist when trying to quit, 73 per cent said that they had found speaking to the pharmacist helpful. This compared with 67 per cent for a nurse or health visitor and 53 per cent for a doctor.

"The survey shows the key role that pharmacists have to play in helping people to stop smoking — they could have a significant impact on people's New Year quit efforts," said Judith Watt, head of programme, SmokeFree London.

The telephone survey of nearly 10,000 people identified a total of 1,845 smokers who had attempted to quit in the previous 12 months. The majority (81 per cent) had gone "cold turkey".

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