§ Siobhain McDonaghTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent to which the "Don't Give up Giving up" campaign has achieved its objectives. [148855]
§ Yvette CooperQuarterly surveys of smoking attitudes and awareness of the campaign are being carried out and results indicate that the "Don't Give up Giving up" campaign is well recalled and is communicating effectively with the target audience.
In the period before the advertising was resumed (1 June 2000 to 20 August 2000) calls to the NHS smoking helpline averaged 4,497 per month. Since advertising began again on 21 August 2000 the monthly call average has been 16,600.
The website "givingupsmoking.co.uk" has had over 39,000 distinct individual visitors since its launch in December 1999. More than 7,000 of these were in January of this year.
This information is shared regularly with those working in tobacco control and cessation through regular campaign updates.
665WPreliminary results of the general household survey of smoking prevalence in 2000 will be available later this year.
Our tobacco education campaign, launched in December 1999, is aimed at persuading smokers to give up and non-smokers, particularly children, not to start. As part of the broader campaign we are planning dedicated sub-campaigns aimed at pregnant women, ethnic minorities etc.