NHS England is to offer hundreds of thousands of smokers a once-a-day pill that increases their likelihood of quitting, and which, say the experts, could save thousands of lives.
About 85 000 people a year in England will be offered the daily varenicline tablet that is reputed to be as effective as vapes at helping people to kick the habit, reports The Guardian.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, hailed the pill as a potential “gamechanger” in the fight to tackle smoking and the huge harm it causes to health.
The drug helps people to quit by reducing their cravings for nicotine and ensuring that it cannot affect the brain in its usual way. It has also been found to reduce the side effects smokers can experience when they stop using tobacco, like sleep problems and irritability.
The NHS will give varenicline as part of its efforts to keep reducing the number of smokers in the country. A decline in smoking rates over the past 20 years means that only 11.6% of adults in England still have the habit – about 6m people.
Health service bosses hope its use will lead to 9 500 fewer smoking-related deaths over the next five years.
The drug – known at the time as Champix – was introduced in 2006 and was taken by about 85 800 people a year until July 2021. It then became unavailable after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which regulates drugs, found impurities in it.
That problem has now been addressed to the MHRA’s satisfaction and it has recently approved a generic version of the drug, which NHS England will use.
It cited research by University College London that found it would save £1.65 in healthcare costs for every £1 it spent on the pill.
The pharmaceutical firm Teva UK will provide the generic version of the drug.
Smoking experts welcomed varenicline’s return. Dr Nicola Lindson, an associate professor at Oxford University, said: It is one of the most effective ways to quit smoking, especially when combined with behavioural support, like counselling.”
NHS waiting times
Meanwhile, hospital bosses in England have said the government will fail in its mission to get NHS waiting times back on track any time soon. In a survey by NHS Providers, the bosses of all acute health trusts that took part said they thought it was unlikely or very unlikely that waits for routine hospital care would be back to 18 weeks – the maximum set out in the NHS constitution – by mid-2029.
One trust boss said: “The government have got the most focus on getting back to 18 weeks, which is the hardest standard to meet of all. If you think, there were 7m people on a waiting list, and as fast as you take them off, currently we’re putting more people on.”
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