Smokers to get drug before cancer patients do

Smokers get drug before cancer patients - Telegraph

Extract:

"A controversial drug to help smokers quit has been approved for use on the NHS at the same time as cancer sufferers and others have been denied potentially life-saving medication, it was disclosed yesterday.

Champix helps four times as many people stop smoking as those who take nothing and will be given free on the NHS.

The announcement was greeted with dismay as some patients are campaigning for access to cancer drugs, Alzheimer's medication and a treatment to prevent blindness.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) argues that helping people to quit smoking will save the NHS money in the long run because fewer will develop smoking-related diseases.

Champix, also known as varenicline, costs £163.80 for a 12-week course. Nice calculated that Champix would cost £6 million a year but treating fewer smoking-related diseases as a result would save about £11 million a year.

Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, said: "It won't be a lot of comfort for those whose mother is deteriorating with Alzheimer's or if you are going blind. There are lots of ways to give up smoking - you can get patches from the chemist or join a club. Why does the NHS need to fund it?"

The drug, which is made by Pfizer, eases smokers' cravings and reduces the satisfaction from a cigarette."

I can't say that I regard smoking as a disease and so I don't see why the NHS should be involved in funding drugs that are claimed to help in quitting smoking. If smokers choose to spend money on cigarettes, surely they equally can choose to spend money on methods of stopping smoking...


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