Why men need to quit smoking even more than women

120,000: the number of smoking-related deaths in 2003.

120,000: the number who will quit smoking in 2003.

Which group will you be in?

Giving up smoking is tough but for this year's No Smoking Day (12 March 2003), there are a couple of buddies on hand to help you.

Every year 120,000 smokers in Britain quit which is about the same number as die every year from their habit. It's time to make sure you're in the first group. Smoking is the biggest single preventable killer in the UK. It's responsible for one in five deaths while someone who smokes 20 a day will spend about £1,480 a year on cigarettes.

Men particulary need to quit. We're heavier smokers than women - consuming about 16 fags a day compared to 14 among female smokers - and it plays havoc with our sex-lives. Male smokers appear more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction than non-smokers - a 1994 study of US army veterans found that 3.7% of smokers were impotent compared to 2.2% of non-smokers - and have less-mobile, more abnormal sperm in a poorer sperm density. Not good for baby-making.

by Jim Pollard, editor of malehealth.

What do you think? How did you give up smoking?