Smokers ‘twice as likely to quit’ with new pills set to be available in the UK

BRITS hoping to kick their smoking habit this year are twice as likely to succeed if they take a new wonder pill, according to a new study.
Smokers hoping to stub out the dangerous habit usually turn to products like vapes, patches or gums.
But a new study in Argentina has revealed cytisine pills - a non-nicotine aid - were more than twice as effective as a placebo at helping people quit smoking.
The plant-based drug recently gained regulatory approval in the UK and will be available on prescription from January 22.
People looking to quit take multiple cytisine pills, branded as different products in several countries, per day for up to two months.
The study, published in the journal Addiction, looked at the results of eight trials which compared the success rates of smokers who tried to quit while taking cytisine or a placebo.
Out of the nearly 6,000 smokers, the results showed people taking cytisine were twice as likely to give up smoking than those who took the placebo.
The researchers also found cytisine was more effective than nicotine replacement therapy, like patches and vapes.
Study author Professor Omar de Santi, a toxicologist at the Posadas National Hospital in Argentina, said: “Our study adds to the evidence that cytisine is an effective and inexpensive stop-smoking aid.
“Worldwide, smoking is considered the main cause of preventable death.
"Cytisine can potentially be one of the big answers to that problem.”
However, there are side effects to taking cytisine, researchers said, with the most commonly reported in the study being gastrointestinal symptoms that were "mild and transient."
Some 6.4million Brits aged 18 or over - 6.4 per cent - smoked cigarettes in 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The dangerous habit is linked to a range of deadly conditions, including cancer, heart disease and stroke.
The Government announced an ambition to be “smoke-free” by 2030 in England and Wales, for which it's aiming to reduce the smoking rate to less than five per cent.
Priminster Rishi Sunak said he hoped to create a smoke-free generation by increasing the age of sale for cigarettes by one year yearly.
A 25-day course of 100 pills will cost £115. This could deter some areas from providing the medicine as part of their health services.
“It is welcome to have a non-nicotine aid to quitting back on the market as some smokers will prefer this,” said Hazel Cheeseman at Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) told the Guardian.
“However, the decision about whether to include it in stop-smoking services will be local.
“While it is obviously cost-effective given the impact on public services of people continuing to smoke, it is currently more expensive than providing nicotine replacement therapy or vapes, and some areas may decide not to offer it to smokers."
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