New medication to stop smoking is now available on prescription

Since February 1^st, the Ministry of Health are now financing Todacitan, a pharmacological treatment that helps to stop smoking and is based on the active ingredient cytisine. It is now one of the only funded medical prescription treatments available in Spain to help stop smoking, filling the gap after the withdrawal of 'Champix'.

Tobacco consumption is the main cause of preventable premature death in Spain, with more than 60,000 deaths a year from smoking-related illnesses, according to a report by the National Committee for the Prevention of Tobacco (CNPT).

Stopping smoking has become a social challenge, since tobacco causes the death of half of its users and, although the prevalence of daily smokers has continued to decline since 1993, this decline has slowed in the last 10 years.

The latest data published in the EDADES study indicate that a third (33.1%) of the population between the ages of 15 and 64 years old state that they consume tobacco on a daily basis.

“Patients who decide to quit smoking face a challenge. Now it is much easier to help them because we can offer them a treatment that they can access more easily. It is something that we have been waiting for a long time.”

“The success rate in patients who want to quit smoking is much higher when they do so following a prescribed treatment and with professional support", commented the coordinator of the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), Carlos Rabade.

Cytisine is a substance of vegetable origin, said to help quit smoking, which reduces the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome and anxiety caused by nicotine dependence.

Another advantage of this Todacitan is that it only requires a short duration of treatment of one box which lasts 25 days, compared to longer time scales with other drugs. It is a medication that requires a prescription, so you should consult your doctor.