Governments must help tobacco addicts
p2pnet view P2P:- Governments should take an active role in help tobacco addicts quit smoking — and that should include paying for treatments shown to be effective.
So say Erika D. Penz, Braden J. Manns, Paul C. Hébert, and Matthew B. Stanbrook in a Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial.
“Given the high cost of tobacco addiction and our inability to decrease the rates of smoking in Canada below 19% in recent years, governments should complement population-level public health strategies against tobacco with a marked increase in investment in individual-level smoking cessation programs”, they say, pointing out each province has enacted legislation banning smoking in workplaces and public areas.
“For many, if not most, smoking is a powerful addiction, similar to alcoholism and other forms of substance abuse”, they say, continuing >>>
Provincial health ministries already reimburse the cost of pharmacotherapy for other drug addictions, such as methadone for heroin addiction or naltrexone for alcohol dependence. Perhaps funding for smoking cessation lacks political and public support because of the social stigma associated with smoking, ironically a deliberate achievement of tobacco prevention campaigns.
“Why, then,” they ask, “do most provincial governments provide little or no direct funding for smoking cessation?”
In 2007, “Canada’s Common Drug Review recommended that varenicline, the newest drug for smoking cessation, be added to provincial drug formularies”, says the article, and yet “only Quebec provides public funding for all smoking cessation pharmacotherapies, and only the Yukon and Prince Edward Island reimburse for at least one product”.
In Australia and the United Kingdom, drug insurance is provided to all citizens and reimbursement is available without restriction for all smoking cessation products, including prescription medications and over-the-counter nicotine replacement, says the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also noting, “In the United States, smoking cessation products are reimbursed by Veterans Affairs and Part D Medicare.”
Perhaps policy-makers “think we should not be subsidizing poor lifestyle choices”, suggest Penz, Manns, Hébert, and Stanbrook. If so, they say, “we ought to deny public funding for heart surgery to patients who continue to smoke or stop paying for care of patients with smoking-related cancers”, going on:
“But we have decided to care for patients who suffer because of poor lifestyle choices, whether smoking, poor diet or physical inactivity, recognizing that few of us follow perfect lifestyles. Perhaps policy-makers subscribe to the naive view that quitting — or failing to quit — is an individual choice and responsibility.”
Most important, “perhaps policy-makers fail to understand how the cost of smoking cessation products acts as an insurmountable barrier or a powerful disincentive for smokers”, says the editorial, stating:
“When considered with evidence that people who quit smoking long term gain an average of four years of life, full coverage of smoking cessation products among the 5.5 million Canadian smokers might be expected to result in 1.9 million life-years gained, at a cost of $220 for every life-year gained — a bargain compared with most other health interventions.
As an immediate first step, “all provincial drug formularies should begin reimbursing evidence-based smoking cessation therapies”, it says, adding, “This will provide coverage to smokers receiving social assistance and to those over 65 years of age.
“To treat the rest of Canada’s smokers, we should follow the lead of other countries and reimburse smoking cessation therapies for everyone.”
Where would the money come from?
The “substantial tax revenues collected with the sale of every tobacco product”.
Stay tuned.
… and identi.ca
Canadian Medical Association Journal – Governments, pay for smoking cessation, August 30, 2010
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August 31st, 2010 at 11:51 pm
legalize marijuana = problem solved with no bs from cops
September 1st, 2010 at 8:19 am
Why is it that no one has the right and simple solution to the problems created by advertised drugs such as tobacco and alcohol?
It’s so simple: PROHIBIT ADVERTISEMENT
Then sales will disappear.
As the wise say, an ounce of prevention is better than a ton of remedies.
Then again, the prostituted legislature and politicians will not do what they must.