Smokers to Be Given Free Nicotine Patches to Quit

Smokers looking to kick the habit and lucky enough to be residents of the UK will soon have the chance to do so, thanks to a new £250 million initiative of the NHS, offering free nicotine patches with the already available kits.

The UK is among of the countries that invest big in the prevention of smoking and in helping smokers kick the habit, the most recent initiative being the best example in this sense.

Basically, those who will try to quit smoking will soon have another ally on their side, in the form of nicotine replacement therapy (or NRT) with the nicotine patches.

These will be included in the already existent kits and will be handed to smokers free of charge, in a bid to help them kick the habit, the Daily Mail reports.

“Smokers are to be given free nicotine patches on the NHS. They will be handed out by surgeries and pharmacies as part of a £250 million Government drive to help people kick the habit,” the British publication says.

“The patches give smokers a gradual release of nicotine through the skin enabling them to get their ‘fix’ without the cancer-causing substances such as tar and carbon monoxide found in cigarettes,” the Mail writes.

The patches are used only for a while, until the addiction to nicotine loses in intensity – and the former smoker can stop using them after a few months and deal with addiction on their own.

“The patches will be added to the ‘Quit Kits’ currently handed out to smokers trying to give via the NHS Stop Smoking Campaign,” says the aforementioned publication.

“At the moment this pack only contains items such as a good luck postcard and a elastic band-type toy to help keep their hands occupied and a card with the ‘stop smoking’ helpline number,” says the Mail.

The Department of Health is yet to announce the number of patches it will dispose of free of charge or how many of them will be included in a single kit.

Previous studies have already showed smokers who quit with patches have smaller odds of starting smoking again, as compared to those who quit “cold turkey.”