BRUSSELS, January 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

New Year Brings New Way of Tackling Smoking for Thousands

2012 looks set to be the best year yet as the European Commission offers new thinking and support to quit smoking with their innovative campaign "Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable". A New Year is a new start - and the European Commission is dedicated to helping smokers across the European Union to become Unstoppable; finally stopping smoking and enjoying a better life. According to a recent survey, nearly 80% of people who make New Year's resolutions will fail to stick to them, as many lose motivation and focus instead on the downside of not achieving their goals.^[1]  

Uniquely, "Ex-smokers are Unstoppable" offers an inspiring and motivating approach to quitting smoking, inviting smokers to think again about the benefits of giving up cigarettes, which include better health, better social interaction, more money and of course a better quality of life. In less than half a year over 150,000 smokers in European Union have registered with the European Commission's innovative digital tool iCoach, launched in June 2011. This step-by-step personalised support tool has already helped thousands of smokers across the EU to quit and aims to support thousands more to achieve their New Year's resolutions and become unstoppable ex-smokers in 2012.

iCoach offers:

• Personalised tips and advice to support smokers to kick the habit
• Regular emails to provide support at every step of the journey to a smoke-free life
• A forum to allow smokers to support each other and share their own inspiring stories
• Graphs showing the user's progress towards their end goal: becoming an Unstoppable ex-smoker

"I am delighted that "Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable" has helped 150,000 smokers so far,"  said Commissioner Dalli. "We look forward to supporting many more thousands of smokers to achieve their goal of a smoke-free life in 2012. As we enter this new year, there is an opportunity to make 2012 the best year it can be as the "Ex-smokers are Unstoppable" campaign will be even bigger and better. I gave up smoking myself some years ago and I really understand just how great it feels to be an ex-smoker."

For more information please visit:

http://www.becomeunstoppable.eu  

The Public Health Portal of the European Union

http://health.europa.eu  

The Public Health website of the European Commission

http://ec.europa.eu/health/tobacco/policy/index_en.htm

^[1]Blame It on the Brain: The latest neuroscience research suggests spreading resolutions out over time is the best approach, Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2009 Available online: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703478704574612052322122442.html  

SOURCE European Commission

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