Smokers are being urged to give up cigarettes for 31 days and beyond during October by the Quit Right Tower Hamlets campaign.
The team has been out and about to explain quitting options to smokers and offering support.
The annual drive was launched outside Whitechapel Idea Store by Tower Hamlets public health director Dr Somen Banerjee and Mayor John Biggs.
This year’s Stoptober is “more important than ever” say campaigners as a new nationwide survey found that nearly half of smokers have been smoking more since the first lockdown began, because of increased stress.
“Stopping smoking can be a huge challenge,” deputy mayor Rachel Blake acknowledged. “But there are resources available to help smokers quit.”
Advisors are offering free nicotine replacement therapies such as lozenges or e-cigarettes.
The team is running weekday sessions at GP surgeries, Idea Stores and the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel. Pharmacists and GPs are also giving out information on how to stop smoking.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here