The Department of Health today published statistical tables relating to smoking cessation services for 2023/24.
The statistical tables provide 4-week follow-up information on people reporting to smoking cessation services during the year 2023/24, in addition to figures for the 52-week follow-up of people who signed up to the programme in 2022/23.
Key Findings
Information on people accessing smoking cessation services is supplied to the Public Health Agency by providers of the service. In 2023/24, a total of 9,196 people were reported to have set a quit date through the smoking cessation services in Northern Ireland.
The number of people reported to have set a quit date remains lower than a decade ago when 21,779 people did so in 2014/15. Cigarette smoking prevalence has also fallen over a similar time period from 22% in 2014/15 to 14% in 2022/23 (source: Health Survey Northern Ireland).Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) was the most popular therapeutic intervention, with 74% of those who set a quit date having used this therapy.At the 4-week follow-up 5,553 people (60% of those setting a quit date) reported that they had successfully quit, 20% had not quit and 20% could not be contacted for the follow-up.The 4-week success rate was 62% for males and 59% for females.Around a third (31%) of the 9,147 adults who set a quit date were from the most deprived quintile while a further quarter (25%) were from the second most deprived quintile. This compares with around one in ten (8%) from the least deprived quintile. The 4-week success rate was 58% for those in the most deprived quintile compared with 60% in the least deprived quintile.Of the 547 women who were recorded as being pregnant, 32% were from the most deprived quintile compared with 9% from the least deprived quintile. At the 4-week follow-up, 70% of pregnant women reported to have successfully quit, 14% had not quit, and 16% were not able to be contacted.At the 52-week follow-up of those that had quit at 4 weeks in 2022/23, two-fifths (40%) reported still being tobacco free, while around a quarter (23%) had resumed smoking, and a further 37% could not be contacted.
