![\"B457EX](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/b457ex-lit-cigarette-smoking-womans-973175329.jpg\")
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An estimated eight million Brits smoke tobacco (stock image)Credit: Alamy<\/p>\n
It was pulled in 2021 due to a potentially hazardous problem with the ingredients, which has now been fixed.<\/p>\n
Experts have welcomed its return as it is regarded as the best way to quit.<\/p>\n
Professor Nick Hopkinson, lung disease expert at Imperial College London, said: \u201cVarenicline is the most effective smoking cessation medication, so the fact that it has not been available for the last few years has been a real problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Works like a fat jab<\/p>\n
The daily pill works by attaching to the same receptors in the brain that would be targeted by nicotine<\/a>.<\/p>\n This means it reduces cravings as if someone has just had a cigarette, and also blocks the receptor so nicotine does not work, preventing the \u201creward\u201d feeling if they do smoke.<\/p>\n That works the same way as weight loss injections<\/a> which block hormone receptors to prevent hunger.<\/p>\n The drug will be available through NHS Stop Smoking clinics or through a GP surgery, and will be offered alongside counselling and other quitting support. <\/p>\n Patients may be asked to try other ways of stopping smoking before they are offered medication.<\/p>\n Around eight million people in the UK smoke tobacco and it is the leading cause of cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr Andy McEwen, chief of the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, said: \u201cThe availability of this medication offers people a stop smoking aid that may significantly improve their chances of quitting.\u201d<\/p>\n The NHS now plans to roll it out<\/a> through official stop smoking services.<\/p>\n People can refer themselves for help online via the NHS<\/a> website.<\/p>\n The clinics also began using a second pill, named cytisine<\/a>, last year.<\/p>\n Both have been proven to be more effective than nicotine patches or gum, and equally as good as vaping.<\/p>\n Health chiefs announced in November that clinics would use the pill again and experts at University College London estimated it could save 9,500 lives by 2030.<\/p>\n Former NHS chief Amanda Pritchard<\/a> said at the time: \u201cThis simple daily pill could be a game-changer.\u201d<\/p>\n Professor Hopkinson, also medical director of the charity Asthma + Lung UK, added: \u201cQuitting smoking<\/a> is the best thing you can do for your health.\u201d<\/p>\n The truth about smoking<\/p>\n ONE in eight people in the UK smokes.<\/p>\n And yet it’s the biggest cause of death and disease that we can control. <\/p>\n About half of life-long smokers will die early, losing about 10 years of life on average.<\/p>\n The most common smoking<\/a>-related causes of death are: lung cancer<\/a>, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease<\/a>, and coronary heart disease<\/a>. <\/p>\n But it is linked to all sorts of other conditions, from heart attacks<\/a> and strokes<\/a> to diabetes<\/a> and depression<\/a>. <\/p>\n Smoking harms every organ in the body, which is why it accounts for approximately 74,600 deaths every year in England alone. <\/p>\n It kills more people annually than having a high BMI<\/a>, alcohol<\/a> and drugs<\/a> combined. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/man-smoking-cigarette-946512806.jpg\"\/)
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