Media Release
16 October 2014
Stoptober – Halfway through
New Zealand’s first national stop smoking campaign Stoptober is halfway through, and to date just over 5,000 people
across the country have heard the campaign’s call to action and signed up to the website www.stoptobernz.co.nz.
Southern DHB Smokefree team have been out and about over the last few weeks rolling the Giant Red Stop Ball across the
district encouraging members of the public to sign up to the campaign.
Twenty six pharmacies across Otago and Southland continue to actively promote Stoptober and encourage their customers to
sign up too.
“Out of the 300 people who have registered for the campaign in Otago and Southland 170 of them were encouraged to sign
up by the pharmacies which is a great result,” said Southern DHB Smokefree Coordinator Debby Newton,
Everyone who has registered will be receiving stop smoking support by way of free texts and emails.
“People between the ages of 17 and 70 years of age, have joined the campaign” said Debby. “For some it is their first
attempt to stop smoking, for many others they are giving stopping smoking another go. This is fantastic and we know that
if people can stop smoking for 31 days, they are five times more likely to stay smokefree for life” she said.
So with a couple of weeks left in October there is still time to go to the website, register, and receive the free
support available to stop smoking. Do it now, for yourself, your loved ones, your whānau, your health, your income.
Ends