A miracle anti-smoking drug being rolled out across the NHS in England could save THOUSANDS of lives
A daily pill that triples the chance of quitting smoking will be offered by the NHS in a bid to save thousands of lives.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, called the drug a ‘game-changer’ and an important step towards creating a ‘smoke-free generation’.
Studies show that Varenicline is three times more effective than a placebo at helping people kick the habit. It also works just as well as vapes and better than nicotine replacement gum or patches.
The drug reduces nicotine cravings and blocks its effect on the brain, while also helping with withdrawal symptoms such as irritability or sleep problems. When used alongside behavioral support such as counselling, the treatment has been shown to help around one in four people quit smoking for at least six months.
The NHS expects 85,000 smokers a year to try the drug and believes it will prevent 9,500 smoking-related deaths over the next five years.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, called the drug a ‘game-changer’ and an important step towards creating a ‘smoke-free generation’.
The drug reduces nicotine cravings and blocks its effect on the brain, while also helping with withdrawal symptoms such as irritability or sleep problems (file image)
Ms Pritchard will reveal details of the drug’s rollout today in a speech at the NHS Providers conference in Liverpool.
She will say: ‘This simple daily pill could be a game-changer for people wanting to quit smoking and is another crucial step in shifting our NHS towards prevention. Smoking remains one of the biggest public health issues facing the NHS.”
Around six million adults in Britain – one in eight – smoke and in 2022/2023 more than 400,000 hospital admissions in England were attributed to smoking.
Every year the NHS spends £2.5 billion treating health problems caused by smoking. Varenicline will be made available to patients in England through NHS Stop Smoking Services in partnership with pharmaceutical company Teva UK, which is producing a new generic version of the treatment.
A branded version, Champix, was withdrawn in 2021 after it was found to contain elevated levels of the potentially carcinogenic substance N-nitroso-varenicline. The Medicines Health and Regulatory Authority has approved the relaunched generic product as safe.
Dr. Ian Walker of Cancer Research UK said: ‘Around 160 cases of cancer are caused by tobacco every day in Britain, so it is vital that action is taken to stop people smoking in the first place.’