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News Roundup [abridged Versions Appear In The Paper Journal]

NHS must provide bupropion for smokers wanting to quit, NICE says

BMJ 2002; 324 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7343.937/a (Published 20 April 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;324:937
  1. Zosia Kmietowicz
  1. London

    The government is giving its full support to smokers who want to quit by making smoking cessation treatments available on the NHS, provided the smokers show they are truly committed to giving up.

    The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) says that bupropion (Zyban) and nicotine replacement therapies are probably the most cost effective treatments there are. It accepts that the new guidance will add between £20-50m ($28-71m;€32-81m) to the annual drugs bill for England and Wales, but says the NHS will be more than compensated by reduced spending on smoking related disease, which currently costs £1.5bn a year.

    It has been estimated that four million of Britain's 11 million smokers try to quit each year but …

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