NHS offers ‘improved’ stop-smoking pill varenicline

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.

Some local authorities do offer vapes to smokers who are looking to quit.

Guidelines, external recommend people try a licensed stop smoking medicine first, though vapes are a recognised smoking cessation aid.

Vaping is nowhere near as harmful as smoking cigarettes.

However, it is not entirely risk free and health experts agree people should not start vaping other than to give up smoking.

Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said access to services was variable.

She said: “Wherever a smoker lives, they should be able to access the most effective forms of treatment to help them stop.

“Improving 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.

“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.

“But gaps remain around the country, with services often in peril as local NHS organisations try to balance the books.”

Prof Nick Hopkinson, professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, said varenicline was the “most effective smoking cessation medication”.

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.

“People 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.”

He said people could access help online at NHS Smokefree, external 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”.