Smokers forced to quit after funding cuts | Society

Thousands of smokers find themselves without the support they need to quit smoking after prescription drugs to help them stop falling by 75% over the last decade, according to a report

. for smokers who want to overcome their addiction in England – 38% of smokers choose this route.

However, primary care prescriptions for nicotine and gum replacement patches and smoking cessation medications bupropion and varenicline decreased by three-quarters in England between 2005-06 and 2016-17.

In Scotland, there was a 40% drop, while in Wales the prescription rates decreased by two-thirds. That's despite the fact that a combination of support and medication has proven to be the most effective way to help smokers quit – increasing their chance of tripling their dependence on cold turkey – and is recommended by the National Institute The analysis of the NHS prescription data, which will be published in its entirety on Monday in a report of the British Lung Foundation (BLF), titled Less Help to Stop: What is going on to stop … The smoking ordinances across Britain, also reveals great regional variations in the prescription of these products.

Alternative ways to get help, such as specialty clinics, are also down in some areas.

In Worcestershire, for example. % of the population smokes, the local authority has decommissioned its smoking cessation services, and local clinical commissioning groups have advised general practitioners not to prescribe smoking assistance for New patients The report reveals that in April 2016, only 98 people were helped out of Worcestershire County, compared with 2,208 the previous year, and no attempt to leave the country was made. recorded.

According to the BLF, it is the smokers who suffer the largest budget cuts and who are subject to discrimination

Stephen Spiro, professor of respiratory medicine and medical advisor to the charity, said in a preface: "Many smokers can not get the drugs they need to quit because of the decisions taken by their local health departments. Of course, they are not taken lightly or, in some cases, voluntarily. They are the result of the erosion of government funding for smoking support. In England, national cuts in public health funding will rise to more than £ 600 million by 2021.

"This report shows that we are reaping the very real effects of sustainable cuts. financing. It also shows how a growing number of clinical commissioning groups are making decisions to prevent generalists from prescribing clinically effective and appropriate drugs for smokers. It's a travesty. "

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in England, costing 2.5 billion pounds a year in the NHS and 11 billion pounds in the economy." The NHS and the Numbers 39, Office for National Statistics published this month revealed that 200,000 people had quit smoking last year in England: 14.9% of adults smoked, equivalent to 6.1 million people

may explain in part the decline in prescription rates – the decrease in prescriptions "far exceeds the decrease in the size of the smoking population," says the report, leaving a void for many smokers who want to quit

According to the report, While smoking rates in England fell by 22% between 2010-11 and 2016-17, prescribing rates fell by 60%.

In addition, he warned that growing popularity of e-cigarettes, which are not available on r the NHS buy, can not be guaranteed to fill the gap created by the decline in prescribed products.

Update of the Nice Guidelines released earlier this year, smoking cessation services should be targeted at high-risk groups

However, the BLF states that all smokers should be able to expect their GP to give them access to anti-smoking drugs, either by prescribing themselves or by referring smokers to specialized services, even they are not among the priority groups. The charity calls on the government to cancel cuts in public health funding for local authorities and to remove restrictions on the prescription of smoking products.

Alison Cook, director of charity policy: [Clinical commissioning groups] immediately withdraw all guidelines to general practitioners who opt out of the right to prescribe drugs to quit smoking. We are making a big mistake as these services could potentially save an NHS immersed in millions difficulties. "

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Social Care said," There are now fewer smokers in this country than ever thanks to our "However, 78,000 people still die of smoking in England each year which is why we recently launched a new tobacco control plan and will give advice. £ 16 billion to provide public health services to their communities. "