£12.50 a week offer to cease smoking

A scheme which offers smokers in Scotland £12.50 a week to kick the habit has been launched.

Smokers in deprived areas of Dundee will get the cash in the form of a credit which they can spend on groceries – as long as they stay off cigarettes.

The scheme was launched by public health minister Shona Robison. She said: “This is an innovative project and I’ll be following the results with interest to see if lessons can be learned for the rest of Scotland.”

Health chiefs say 1,800 people will take part in the two-year scheme and believe 50% could be successful. Once accepted onto the scheme, those taking part make weekly visits to their local pharmacy.

A breath test on a carbon monoxide testing machine will show if they have been smoking or not, and for every week they stay smoke-free they receive a £12.50 electronic card credit up to a maximum of 12 weeks. This can be spent on groceries at Asda supermarkets.

It follows the success of a similar scheme by NHS Tayside for pregnant mothers.

The health board’s deputy director of public health, Paul Ballard, said: “Currently there are 36,000 smokers in disadvantaged areas in Dundee and, although current smoking cessation services are working well, we know we need to do more to tackle this.

“That is why we were keen to work with local communities to find ways which they themselves believe will help them make changes to their health behaviours.”

Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

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