NHS rolls out ‘stop-smoking’ pill to help tens of thousands quit

Thousands of lives could be saved thanks to the roll-out of an improved anti-smoking pill on the NHS in England, the head of the health service will announce today.

Varenicline has been shown to work as well as vapes to help people stop smoking and be a more effective aid than nicotine-replacement gum or patches.

The daily pill is now set to be offered by the NHS to tens of thousands of smokers each year in England to provide another option to help them quit.  

The drug 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.

When used alongside behavioural support, such as counselling, the treatment has been shown to help around one in four people to stop smoking for at least six months.

Alongside government efforts to create a smokefree generation, NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard will say the move to provide varenicline comes as part of a major NHS drive to make more effective treatment options available for patients while delivering over £500m in savings for the taxpayer.

The speech at the NHS Providers annual conference in Liverpool this afternoon will focus on the NHS' continued commitment to reform patient care and provide maximum value for taxpayers, with figures showing new initiatives to boost productivity have helped the NHS save £2 billion in the first five months of this financial year to be reinvested for patients.

It is estimated the use of varenicline on the NHS could help over 85,000 people try to stop smoking each year and its use over the next five years could prevent up to 9,500 smoking-related deaths, according to research by University College London.

The drug will now provide an additional treatment option for patients in England through NHS Stop Smoking Services, and other potential options are on the near horizon with a second drug (cytisine) currently under review by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The treatment is being made available through a collaboration between NHS England and pharmaceutical company Teva UK, who have agreed to provide a new generic version of the treatment to the NHS.

A branded version of the smoking cessation pill (Champix®) was previously used but was withdrawn in 2021 as a precaution after an impurity was discovered – however the relaunched generic product has now been approved as safe by the Medicines Health and Regulatory Authority (MHRA).

As well as reducing the significant health impacts of smoking, helping people to quit through interventions like varenicline delivers significant cost savings for the health service and is yet another example of the NHS making the most of generic medicines to save lives and millions for the taxpayer.   

Analysis by NICE in 2018 showed that for every £1 spent on the previous branded pill Champix® alongside behavioural support, £1.65 was saved through preventing smoking-relating illnesses and hospitalisations – with the economic benefit set to be far greater with the cheaper generic version of the drug. 

In a speech at the NHS Providers annual conference, NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard will say: “This simple daily pill could be a game-changer for people who want to quit smoking and is another vital step in shifting our NHS further towards prevention.

“Smoking remains one of the biggest public health issues facing the NHS and has devastating impacts on the body – from the lungs, to the heart, blood and brain, while also increasing risk of cancer, diabetes and stroke.

“Alongside supporting the Government's ambition to create the first smoke-free generation, we are giving current smokers the tools they need to quit – with proven treatment options like this, alongside specialist care, helping to save thousands of lives and the NHS millions of pounds in treatment costs.”

Around one in eight adults in the UK smoke (around 6 million people), and there were more than 400,000 hospital admissions in England attributed to smoking in 2022-23.

Around one in six (16%) of all hospital admissions for respiratory diseases in 2022-23 were estimated to be related to smoking, while it also caused 8% of all admissions for cancers and 7% of admissions for cardiovascular diseases.

Each year the NHS spends around £2.5 billion on treating health issues caused by smoking – it is the leading cause of preventable illness and deaths, causing more than seven in 10 lung cancers and increasing the risk of many major health conditions, such as strokes, diabetes, heart disease, stillbirth and dementia.

Varenicline is being offered in conjunction with pharmacy and council-led stop smoking services across the country, with smokers wanting to quit able to self-refer to these services by visiting the NHS Better Health website.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “Prevention is better than cure. The rollout of this pill can save the NHS millions of pounds, save appointments to help other patients be seen faster, and save lives.

“Taken alongside our tobacco and vapes bill, the government and NHS are building a healthy society to help power a healthy economy.”

Henry Gregg, director of external affairs at Asthma + Lung UK: “A new stop smoking pill to help people quit smoking is a welcome move. While the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will protect younger generations from the harms caused by this deadly addiction, the hundreds of thousands of current smokers who want to give up must also be supported. It is incredibly difficult to quit smoking without help.”

Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy, said: “Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer in the UK and stopping completely is the best thing you can do for your health. It's great news that the NHS is making varenicline an option for people trying to quit. Along with funding for cessation services, making tools like this available will help more people stop smoking.

“Around 160 cases of cancer are caused by tobacco every day in the UK, so it's essential that action is taken to prevent people from smoking in the first place.”