{"id":36109,"date":"2025-07-31T23:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T23:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/36109\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T23:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T23:43:13","slug":"two-of-the-best-stop-smoking-medications-have-been-available-in-the-uk-since-2024-so-why-is-no-one-using-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/36109\/","title":{"rendered":"Two of the best stop smoking medications have been available in the UK since 2024 \u2013 so why is no one using them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2021, varenicline, the most effective single drug for quitting smoking, was withdrawn<\/a> from the market in the UK because impurities were found at greater levels than is considered safe. <\/p>\n

Rapidly, varenicline (then sold under its brand names, Champix and Chantix) became unavailable. This was a disaster for public health. Research from University College London<\/a> estimated that varenicline being unavailable resulted in about 1,890 more avoidable deaths each year because fewer people were successfully quitting smoking. <\/p>\n

But there was hope. Cytisine (also known as cytisinicline), a naturally occurring plant-based product that had been used for decades in eastern Europe, and more recently to great effect elsewhere in the world, was licensed in the UK and made available from January 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Even so, there was an extended period when neither were available<\/a> to people trying to quit smoking in the UK (and in other countries, too). But in the UK at least, things were looking up. Based on a limited but growing body of evidence, cytisine probably works as well as varenicline<\/a> at helping people quit smoking, and it may be better tolerated with fewer side-effects. <\/p>\n

It may also appeal to more smokers who may want to use a natural product rather than a drug designed in a lab. So, with varenicline withdrawn and a similarly effective treatment available, we should have seen lives saved as people who would have taken varenicline were encouraged to try cytisine instead. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Thousands more deaths could be avoided.
\n SUPAWADEE3625\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Why isn\u2019t anyone prescribing it?<\/p>\n

This didn\u2019t happen. Cytisine \u2013 despite now being licensed and available in the UK \u2013 is still shockingly underused<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Since January 2024, only 0.2% of people trying to quit smoking have used it (the same proportion that used it in 2018, when it wasn\u2019t even officially available in the UK). Official NHS data from people accessing stop-smoking services in England confirm that only 0.7% were prescribed cytisine<\/a> in 2024. <\/p>\n

So why is this? High-profile trials continue to show cytisine\u2019s effectiveness for quitting smoking (and even for quitting vaping<\/a>). <\/p>\n

Maybe cytisine\u2019s relatively complex dosing schedule<\/a> puts people off. Cytisine starts with six pills a day (one every two hours) and gradually tapers off over a few weeks: more confusing and less convenient than one-a-day varenicline. <\/p>\n

Another possibility is that the public\u2019s attention has shifted. With so much focus in recent years on vaping as a smoking cessation aid, prescription drugs for smoking cessation may have fallen off the radar. <\/p>\n

It could also be that GPs are reluctant to prescribe cytisine because of its cost and the assumption that local authorities should pay for it, not primary care. While it was once hoped that due to its low-cost availability in eastern Europe<\/a>, it would become the \u201caspirin of smoking cessation drugs\u201d, the licensed product in the UK is now as or more expensive than other drugs<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But the simplest explanation is probably the most accurate: not enough people know about cytisine. People who smoke, GPs, pharmacists and even stop-smoking services may not know it\u2019s an option. And if no one is talking about it, no one is prescribing it. And even if they do know about it, there may be a lack of confidence in using or prescribing it because it is a new drug.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a problem. The UK government has made the shift from treating illness to preventing it a central part of its health strategy. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the country and the world. If we\u2019re serious about prevention, then effective smoking cessation support must be top of the agenda. <\/p>\n

Now, varenicline is available again<\/a> (without its brand names and reformulated to remove the impurities). This is welcome news, but only 1.1%<\/a> of past-year smokers reported using varenicline. That\u2019s only a quarter of the number from before its withdrawal<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This raises an important question: should we return to prescribing varenicline by default, or is it time to consider cytisine as a first-line treatment? Researchers are continuing to learn more about cytisine, but as the evidence in favour of cytisine grows, maybe it needs a PR campaign for both prescribers and people who smoke. <\/p>\n

None of this is to say that cytisine is a miracle cure, or that it will work for everyone. But that\u2019s true of every way to help people quit smoking. Quitting smoking is hard, and people trying to quit need more options, not fewer, and those options need to be visible and accessible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> to receive all The Conversation UK\u2019s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2021, varenicline, the most effective single drug for quitting smoking, was withdrawn from the market in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-36109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}