June 2008

Reference: PH/08/

Press Release

Stop smoking success for Mr. Rahman

Mr. Shafiqur Rahman, a 75 year-old former heavy smoker is celebrating ‘healthy living’ after successfully kicking the habit with the help of his Community Health Development Worker Alamgir Khandoker. His success came after been encouraged by the health worker, to attend monthly stop smoking sessions at the Bangladeshi Islamic Centre in Smethwick funded by the Sandwell Primary Care Trust.

Speaking about his former 20-a-day habit, Mr. Rahman said: “I started smoking when I was 10 years old, so after 65 years of smoking, I’m relieved to say that I haven’t had a cigarette for over five months. Initially, I found it quite difficult to give up. I gained weight, and had to deal with high temper, but that has settled now and I’m back down to my normal weight.”

Alamgir Khandoker, has known Mr. Rahman for over seven years, and admits it was a challenge for him to give up after a lifetime of smoking. “Mr. Rahman had developed such a regular routine of smoking everyday that he had quite a challenge to give up completely. He made a conscious decision to quit, and through will power, nicotine patches and one to one personal encouragement he was finally able to do it. We here at the centre and his family are very proud of his success because he never gave up, and attended every stop smoking session without fail,” said Alamgir.

Asked what made you finally decide to give up? Mr. Rahman said “I have diabetes and my cholesterol was quite high, so the health benefits suddenly became clear– especially after Alamgir showed me the damage I’ve done to my lungs with a jar full of tar. That really opened my eyes! I’ve also saved a lot of money over the last five months, and I’m very thankful that Alamgir didn’t give up on me and has helped me to quit smoking.”

Caption 1: (l-r) Shafiqur Rahman with Alamgir Khandoker and the tools that helped him give up his 65-year smoking habit.

Caption 2: (l-r) Shafiqur Rahman and Alamgir Khandoker celebrate being smoke-free for five months.