Impact of UK policy initiatives on use of medicines to aid smoking cessation
Open accessAbstract
Context:Increasing the use of effective smoking cessation aids could in principle have a substantial public health impact. The UK government has undertaken several major policy initiatives to try to increase usage of smoking cessation medicines. It is important to evaluate what effect, if any, these have had to inform future policy in the UK and internationally. Objective:This study used sales data to examine the impact of government initiatives to increase access to smoking cessation medicines. Design:Information about prescription and non-prescription sales (1999–2002) was obtained. Estimates of utilisation were compared with findings from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) omnibus surveys. The effects of policy initiatives (making the medicines reimbursable and making them available on general sale outside pharmacies) were assessed by means of time series analysis. In addition a new nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) product (a nicotine lozenge) was launched and the effect of this on total utilisation was assessed. Results:Making bupropion, and subsequently nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), reimbursable had a major impact in medication usage; the estimated increase in each case was more than 80 000 “treatment weeks” purchased per month. In addition, introduction of a nicotine lozenge increased total utilisation and did not detract from usage of other medicines. According to both the sales and the survey data, the proportion of smokers using medicines to aid smoking cessation more than doubled from 8–9% in 1999 to 17% in 2002. The ONS surveys showed no increase in the proportions of smokers making quit attempts and so the effects were solely on the proportions of quit attempts that were aided by medication. Conclusions:In the UK, making smoking cessation medicines reimbursable led to a large increase in utilisation. While the effect on smoking prevalence would be too small to be detected in national surveys it could have a substantial public health impact.
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Concurrent NRT use among smokers, either for temporary abstinence or for cutting down, has remained relatively stable since 2002 and mostly reflects short-term use.
“Indeed, concurrent NRT use among smokers, either for temporary abstinence or for cutting down, has remained relatively stable since 2002 109 and mostly reflects short-term use.”
From Evaluating Long-term Outcomes of NHS Stop Smoking Services (ELONS): a prospective cohort study (2015) · cites this paper as [109]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- West, R., DiMarino, M. E., Gitchell, J., & McNeill, A.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Pinney Associates (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- West, R
- Venue
- Tobacco Control
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2005-05-27
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 166-171
- ISSN
- 0964-4563 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-3318
- PMC
- PMC1748027
- OpenAlex
- W2000496248
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 5.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Tobacco Control (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology
- Keywords
- nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, health policy, reimbursement, over-the-counter availability, nicotine lozenges, sales data, quit attempts, tobacco control, United Kingdom
- MeSH terms
- Drug Utilization, United Kingdom, Health Policy, Humans, Nicotine, Smoking Cessation, Bupropion
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