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The NHS will start offering an “improved” stop smoking pill to tens of thousands of people in England who want to quit cigarettes. <\/p>\n
Varenicline, a daily tablet given over a few months, is as effective as vapes and more effective than nicotine replacement gum or patches, NHS England says. <\/p>\n
The drug, which fights cravings, was available a few years ago on the NHS under the brand name Champix but was withdrawn due to some impurities. The new version has been approved as safe. <\/p>\n
E-cigarettes<\/a>, meanwhile, will “sometimes” be offered, often as a starter kit of about two weeks’ worth of vapes by local NHS stop smoking services, officials said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Varenicline is a prescription only medicine, which means people cannot buy it over the counter at a pharmacy or supermarket and will instead need to see their GP or an NHS stop smoking service to get it.<\/p>\n It works by reducing cravings for nicotine and blocking its effect on the brain, while also helping with withdrawal symptoms, such as feeling irritable or having difficulty sleeping.<\/p>\n When used alongside behavioural support, such as counselling, it has been shown to help around one in four people to stop smoking for at least six months, said NHS England.<\/p>\n That could help more than 85,000 people stop smoking each year, it said, and might prevent around 9,500 smoking-related deaths over the next five years, according to research by University College London<\/a>.<\/p>\n Around one in eight adults\u00a0 – six million people in the UK\u00a0– are smokers.<\/p>\n There were more than 400,000 hospital admissions in England linked to smoking last year.<\/p>\n Each year the NHS spends around \u00a32.5bn on treating health issues caused by smoking \u2013 it is the leading cause of preventable illness and deaths.<\/p>\n Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The rollout of this pill can save the NHS millions of pounds, save appointments to help other patients be seen faster and save lives.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since e-cigarettes are not licensed as medicines, GPs are unable to prescribe vapes to people trying to quit smoking unless there is a locally agreed NHS scheme to do so. <\/p>\n Some local authorities do offer vapes to smokers who are looking to quit. <\/p>\n Guidelines<\/a> recommend people try a licensed stop smoking medicine first, though vapes are a recognised smoking cessation aid.<\/p>\n Vaping is nowhere near as harmful as smoking cigarettes.<\/p>\n However, it is not entirely risk free and health experts agree people should not start vaping other than to give up smoking.<\/p>\n Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said access to services was variable. <\/p>\n She said: “Wherever a smoker lives, they should be able to access the most effective forms of treatment to help them stop. <\/p>\n \u201cImproving access to varenicline will be a positive step forward to help prevent the tens of thousands of deaths caused by smoking. However, a drug alone will not transform smoking rates. Services are needed to support smokers and prescribe these products. <\/p>\n “The NHS has done a good job in setting up in-hospital support to help people quit smoking, which complements the services provided in the community. <\/p>\n “But gaps remain around the country, with services often in peril as local NHS organisations try to balance the books.”<\/p>\n Prof Nick Hopkinson, professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, said varenicline was the “most effective smoking cessation medication”.<\/p>\n The fact it has not been available for the last few years has been a “real problem”, he said, adding: “We know that quitting smoking is the best thing anyone who smokes can do to improve their health and the health of people around them, especially children and young people.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are most likely to quit successfully if they have a combination of counselling support and medication to relieve cravings and help break their tobacco dependence.”<\/p>\n He said people could access help online at NHS Smokefree<\/a> and should ask their healthcare provider about varenicline, “especially if they have not managed to quit successfully using other medications like nicotine patches or gum in the past”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n