Smokers have medical help to stop

The first new prescription cessation treatment to become available in a decade could enable more smokers to stop their deadly habit, according to physicians.

Physicians believe that smoking is the most harmful activity to affect their patients' long-term health, and by a considerable margin, over lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, drinking alcohol and obesity, according to results from one of the largest international surveys of physicians' attitudes to smoking and smoking cessation.

The launch of a new treatment will add an additional tool for doctors to help people to quit smoking. News from Europe suggests that the smoking cessation therapy - known as Champix (Varenicline) - may realize even faster acceptance than previously anticipated.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), a major medical body in the United Kingdom, has recommended Champix for use on the National Health Service (NHS) for adult smokers who have expressed a desire to quit, and concluded that the treatment was 'superior to NRT [nicotine replacement therapy] in achieving continuous abstinence.'

The new treatment is an innovative solution designed to help the smokers reach the goal of not only quitting, but staying clean from smoking; it is a non-nicotine agent and the first new prescription treatment approved for smoking cessation in nearly a decade.

"Pfizer's discovery and development of Champix demonstrates groundbreaking science leading to the first prescription treatment aimed directly at smoking cessation in nearly a decade," said Dr. Ahmed El Hakim, Director of External Affairs with Pfizer Middle East.

"Champix is an excellent example of Pfizer's focus on combating the human and economic cost of disease through prevention and wellness based on scientific innovation and patient support initiatives," he added

Smoking, the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, is responsible for five million deaths worldwide each year. By 2010, the World Health Organization estimates the annual global cost of tobacco-related illness to be approximately $500bn.

For a patient prescribed Champix, Pfizer also plans to introduce behavioral support program to help smokers quit, at no extra cost.

In clinical trials, Varenicline was generally well tolerated with overall discontinuation rates similar to placebo. The most frequent side effects included nausea, headache, trouble sleeping and changes in dreaming.