Virtual help for real smokers

Smokers who want to quit will be able to get online help to kick their habit as from tomorrow.

An e-mail coaching operation has been launched as part of the EU-wide campaign Help For A Life Without Tobacco.

Those who sign up for the service will be sent 25 e-mails over a two-month period to help them through the cessation process.

The campaign organisers expressed confidence that the module will become popular quickly, especially since the internet is considered an effective form of advertising among 16 to 24-year-olds.

Meanwhile people will be able to check the levels of carbon monoxide in their lungs at Freedom Square tomorrow between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The Help campaign was launched in 2005 by European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou to provide young people with help not to start smoking, to quit and to explain the dangers of passive smoking.