Help to quit smoking welcomed

Three of Australia’s leading health groups have welcomed the introduction of subsidised nicotine patches saying it will help break the cycle of poverty, smoking and disease.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listing of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) should reduce the nation’s cancer and cardiovascular disease burden, particularly among people on lower incomes say the Cancer Council Australia, the National Heart Foundation of Australia and Quit Victoria.

CEO of Cancer Council Australia, Professor Ian Olver, said the Australian Government should be commended for listing NRT on the PBS, a step that would make NRT affordable for smokers who seek assistance to quit but previously could not afford it.

“People on low incomes smoke at much higher rates than those who are financially secure, meaning they will bear a disproportionate share of cancers caused by smoking – which are among the most deadly and difficult to treat,” said Professor Olver.

“It is an unfair cycle of poverty, illness and early death and, unless we start to see smoking rates reducing among socially disadvantaged people as they have among the educated and affluent, the gap in health outcomes will widen significantly.”