Now an essential resource, this initiative—which offers smokers daily support to quit—already had 135,120 registrants on its dedicated platform as of October 29. New data from the Santé publique France Barometer demonstrate the effectiveness of the #MoisSansTabac initiative: quitting smoking during the campaign doubles the success rate of smoking cessation at one year compared to success rates observed for attempts to quit without external assistance. Numerous initiatives will be carried out throughout November across the country to support participants. Public Health France’s prevention messages will be shared by prominent ambassadors from major French media groups on TV and radio.

#MoisSansTabac: the initiative doubles your chances of quitting!

With 580,982 registrations across its first three editions, #MoisSansTabac has contributed, alongside measures from the National Tobacco Control Program (PNLT), to a historic decline in smoking in France: 1.6 million fewer daily smokers between 2016 and 2018. This year, tens of thousands of smokers will embark on this journey!

The 2017 Santé publique France Barometer had already established the initiative’s motivational impact: nearly one in six daily smokers had attempted to quit for at least 24 hours by the time of the first edition in late 2016, and among them, nearly one in five directly attributed this quit attempt to the campaign, representing approximately 380,000 quit attempts linked to #MoisSansTabac in 2016. Thus, the event led to a 20–25% increase in quit attempts observed during this period.

New data now demonstrate the effectiveness of #SmokeFreeMonth: among smokers who attempted to quit in late 2016 during the first edition, 6% to 10% of them were still abstinent one year later, whereas rates typically observed in scientific studies range from 3% to 5% for quit attempts without external assistance. Thus, quitting smoking during the campaign doubles the success rate of smoking cessation at one year, compared to the success rates observed in the literature for quit attempts without external support.

The French media industry is rallying in force to support participants

Major French media groups are joining the #MoisSansTabac initiative this year by sharing messages of support for smokers. Four ambassadors—prominent TV hosts—are leading the charge this year: Christophe Beaugrand, Daphné Bürki, Cyrille Eldin, and Xavier de Moulins. Their role? To invite smokers to join the challenge right away and support them every step of the way through their quit journey until the challenge ends on November 30.

From October 21 through November 30, the M6 Group is airing a one-minute segment weekdays at 7:35 p.m. on M6, in which Xavier de Moulins meets with experts (tobacco specialists, doctors, and former #MoisSansTabac participants) as well as the Group’s presenters and talent. He shares information and advice with #MoisSansTabac participants on various topics related to quitting: health, money, cooking…

For their part, TF1, France Télévisions, and Canal+ have been airing spots on their channels since October 28 through November 30, featuring messages aligned with the stages of quitting and the #MoisSansTabac schedule. These spots are primarily aired during prime time, in the early evening.

Initiatives across the country to support participants

To encourage participants in their efforts, Santé publique France and the #MoisSansTabac partners are organizing activities across the country (mainland France and overseas departments).

In total, several thousand companies, schools, local governments, healthcare facilities, and institutions are actively participating in #SmokeFreeMonth 2019 to motivate their employees, students, and constituents to take on the challenge.

On the ground, Regional Health Agencies and Regional Ambassadors are setting up #MoisSansTabac Villages to allow smokers or their loved ones to get information, meet with a healthcare professional, and join the challenge. Dates are announced on the Tabac Info Service website.
The Health Insurance program is partnering with this initiative: more than 350 community outreach activities will be launched across the country to support smokers in quitting during the month of November.
A poster campaign will also be displayed at 200 community health centers, 117 healthcare facilities, and 18,000 pharmacies. These pharmacies will also distribute smoking cessation kits to smokers participating in the #SmokeFreeMonth initiative.