NHS Provides Improved Stop Smoking Pill Valerinicline

Varenicline will soon become a daily pill offered through NHS England to tens of thousands of smokers who want to quit cigarettes, with results comparable to vapes but more efficient than nicotine replacement gum or patches, according to NHS England. Champix was available through NHS earlier, but due to some impurities it had to be discontinued due to some safety concerns. Now a safer version has been approved. Since electronic cigarettes (vapes) are not licensed as medicines, GPs cannot legally prescribe vapes as aid for quitting smoking unless there is a local agreed NHS scheme to support that provision. Some local authorities do provide vapes to smokers looking for help to quit. Guidelines advise people seeking to stop smoking to first consider licensed stop smoking medicines; vapes can also serve as effective cessation aids. While vaping does not have the same harmful health consequences as cigarettes, experts agree it shouldn’t be used as an attempt to start vaping other than quitting smoking altogether. Hazel Cheeseman of Action on Smoking and Health said access to services varied between locations. She noted: “Every smoker deserves access to effective forms of treatment in order to help them quit. Expanding access to varenicline would be a significant step toward helping prevent some of the over 140,000 deaths attributed to smoking each year.” Drugs alone will not change smoking rates significantly; services must also provide support and prescribe these products to smokers. “NHS hospitals have done well to develop in-hospital support to assist smokers quit, supplementing services offered in communities. “But gaps remain across the country, with services often at risk as local NHS organisations attempt to balance their books. “Prof. Nick Hopkinson of Imperial College London states that varenicline is “the most effective smoking cessation medication”, yet is no longer widely available – something which he considers an ongoing “real problem”, adding: “Quitting smoking is undoubtedly one of the best steps anyone who smokes can do for both their own wellbeing as well as that of people around them, particularly children and adolescents.” “People with nicotine dependence can find success quitting by seeking professional counselling assistance and using medications such as varenicline to alleviate cravings and break their addiction,” according to NHS Smokefree’s expert advice. He noted that people can access help online at NHS Smokefree as well as speak with healthcare providers regarding varenicline “if other methods, like nicotine patches and gum, have not worked in the past”.