One of the UK’s most prominent stop smoking campaigners has joined Knowsley Health & Wellbeing to head up its work in helping locals to kick their smoking habit.
Christine Owens has been at the vanguard of smoking cessation for more than 16 years, having previously worked for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. During her 10-years at the charity she was instrumental in setting up the North West Stop Smoking Services which has collectively helped more than 371,000 people quit smoking to date.
The well-known campaigner also played a critical role in lobbying for the introduction of the smokefree legislation in 2007 which banned smoking in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces.
She joins Knowsley Health & Wellbeing as programme manager for Tobacco Control, where she will lead work to reduce smoking prevalence. Knowsley Health and Wellbeing is already recognised as a national leader in stop smoking services across the UK, with more adult smokers quitting per head of population than anywhere else in the North West.
Christine, who is married with four children and lives in Runcorn, grew up in Halewood. She said: -I’m delighted to join Knowsley Health & Wellbeing. I grew up in the area and so I’m keen to use my knowledge and focus my efforts into supporting local people quit smoking. It’s still vitally important that we get the message out there that the single most important thing people can do to improve their health is to quit smoking.
Dr Diana Forrest, Director of Public Health for Knowsley said: -We are very privileged to have Christine on board. She brings such a wealth of knowledge and energy to the team, and is someone who has already made an incredible contribution to helping people live longer and healthier lives. We are looking forward to working with her to implement innovative initiatives which will further help Knowsley smokers to be free of the habit.
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