Anti-smoking drug cytisine ‘that doubles your chances of quitting’ will be available on the NHS in just days

A DRUG that can double your chance of stopping smoking will be dished out on the NHS under plans to boost quit rates.

Health chiefs will push for clinics to prescribe the pill cytisine to hardcore smokers from April.

The medicine is years old but was previously unavailable on the NHS, with supplies starting later this month.

Medical watchdog, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, is midway through a review that could recommend it as an option for Brits trying to kick the habit.

A recent study found smokers are more than twice as likely to quit if they take it.

Cytisine mimics the effect of nicotine in the brain to stop cravings and dull the sensation of taking a drag on a cigarette.

The Department of Health will urge local councils to prescribe the pills from the spring with the help of a £70million funding boost that will double smoking services’ budget for the next financial year.

A source said: “This is the first new stop smoking medicine to be launched in the UK for over 10 years.”

Tory MP Bob Blackman, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, said: “This new medication will increase smokers’ chances of successfully quitting.

“Most smokers want to quit but it’s highly addictive and success rates without support are low. 

“Additional funding for the Stop Smoking Services will ensure 360,000 smokers get the help they need to quit this year.”

Local clinics, controlled by councils and NHS boards, will decide who will be offered the drug.

They also offer therapy, patches, gum, e-cigarettes and another medicine called bupropion.

A 25-day course of cytisine for one person costs £115 but patients will pay only the standard prescription charge, currently £9.65.

Around 6.4million adults in the UK smoke tobacco – 12.9 per cent – and many fail when they try to quit.

A review of 12 studies on cytisine, by the Centro Nacional de Intoxicaciones in Argentina, found smokers were 2.25 times more likely to kick the habit if they took cytisine compared to a placebo pill.

Another gold-standard review in 2023, led by Oxford University, said it “can help people to stop smoking for at least six months” and called for more research.

Hazel Cheeseman, from campaign group Action on Smoking and Health, added: “This can help more smokers to stop and move us close to a country where no-one smokes anymore. 

“However, it won’t be available everywhere straight away and if you can’t get it you can still try and quit using nicotine replacement therapy or vapes, which are just as effective.”