As official partners of Soar Magazine, the NHS Leicester City Stop Smoking team are clearly passionate about their work. In previous issues of our publication, they have covered everything from celebrity endorsements and vox pops of the public, to smokefree events and direct pleas to the smoking community.

Qasim Chowdary, the Stop Smoking Specialist Advisor for Children, Young People and Families, plays a critical role in preventing young people from turning to the habit of smoking.

Qasim has a specific responsibility for discouraging smoking between 11 and 15 year olds. This is a critical period in time as there is a smoking rate of only 1 in every 100 11 year olds who smoke, yet it rises to almost 1 in every 4 by the time these young people reach 15. As Qasim explains, this has a ripple effect which can be felt for many years.

“The younger the person is, the more likely they are to be loyal to a particular brand and the more opportunity there is for the cigarette firm to increase the profit they can make from the individual.”

Alarmingly, that consumer loyalty results in an astronomical figure of deaths in the UK every year, a figure that Qasim and the team are relentlessly working against.

“Cigarettes are the only legal product that when used exactly as intended, kill half those using them before their time. There is little doubt that smoking-related deaths are a hidden catastrophe that we are fighting against.”

So, with the responsibility that Qasim holds for young people in Leicester, his core activity is focused upon schools, in order to have the greatest impact. The work includes these three components:

Treatment – “We are working towards having a clinic in every secondary school in the city, so that students can gain access to a trained advisor who can deliver effective smoking cessation treatment.”
Education – “Smokefree messages are normally directed towards adults, using the longer-term consequences related to health, but now we are able to tailor more youth appropriate messages.”
Youth Culture – “We believe young people are innovators and the right messages, along with peer influence, are crucial tools to reduce the uptake of smoking among young people.”

Four strands tobacco education:

Tobacco Industry – We look at the powerful nature of the industry and how reliant they are upon people continuing to buy tobacco.
Wealth of Consumers – We focus on the ‘x’ amount a day, week or year that smokers spend, along with the wider social issues, such as how much a community loses as a result of smoking.
Health – Through this we attempt to look at the short-term and immediate effects, such as breathlessness when doing sport, and the effect on looks, rather than what happens in middle age.
Addiction – In terms of biological and psychological factors that are part of the addiction, and which make tobacco so difficult to give up.

Key Facts

Approximately 450 people die every year in Leicester from a smoking related illness, and many of these will die before their time. The poorest people smoke the most.
There are over 100 smoking places where people can go to get help to stop smoking in Leicester City, including community centres, pharmacies and schools.

How can you get involved?

Whether you are a smoker or not, there is always something you can do to help young people stay clear of cigarettes.

Sports coaches, and others involved in work with young people, have an influential role to play. The health and fitness of young people is important to the success of their team, and tackling smoking in this age group will bring benefits for all.

In the build-up to the 2012 London Olympics, Qasim and the team are available to visit your clubs and sports centres to give a FREE presentation and speak directly to your players about smoking.

Why not give them a call on 0116 295 4141 and play your part in making a difference? One quick phone call could do so much, for so many. For more information on the work that Qasim and the wider NHS Leicester City
Stop Smoking team are doing, or to speak directly to
an advisor, call 0116 295 4141.