The province’s new initiative to offer free nicotine gum or patches to smokers who want to quit isn’t likely to make a huge difference, a Nanaimo-based smoking cessation expert says.
The program, announced Monday, will cover prescription anti-smoking therapies for up to 12 weeks through PharmaCare starting Sept. 30. The government estimates it will cost between $15 million and $25 million annually, depending on how many smokers take advantage of it.
The B.C. health ministry estimates that 6,000 people die each year from cancer, heart disease and other smoking-related illness. The cost to the B.C. economy is approximately $2.3 billion annually, including $605 million for direct health-care costs.
Premier Christy Clark said the province also collects $682 million in revenue from tobacco taxes, and some of that should be used to help people break their tobacco addiction.
While the province bills its new effort as a way to cut into those costs, Dr. Derek Poteryko, a Nanaimo family physician and director of the Central Island Smoking Intervention Clinic, said he’s skeptical of the move as a way to gain political popularity, considering that the success rate with nicotine replacement therapies is minimal.
“As a physician that deals with this addiction, I know that NRT is not that effective,” Poteryko said, adding that most smokers have tried some form of nicotine replacement at some point, yet continue to smoke. “It’s better than nothing, but NRT by itself doesn’t help that much. You need to add other programs to make it successful.”
But the move, made a few weeks ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, is a step in the right direction, in that the government is at least starting to say smoking is an addiction, not a lifestyle choice, he said.
That distinction is key, because under the current definition as a lifestyle choice, people can’t get a doctor’s help without paying for it themselves.
And because there are both chemical and psychological aspects to smoking addiction, getting medical help to deal with the behavioural or habitual part of the addiction is often crucial, he said.
“There’s such a pyschological addiction to the behaviour, that’s why getting behavioural counselling is often so important,” he said.
Ultimately, Poteryko hopes to see the full range of smoking cessation treatments offered through clinics such as the one based at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, covered by the province. This move could be seen as a step in that direction.
“It’s too little, but at least it’s a start,” Poteryko said. “The premier is acknowledging something needs to be done.”
The health ministry will work with the B.C. Lung Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. and Yukon, the Canadian Cancer Society, B.C. Pharmacy Association, pharmaceutical manufacturers, health authorities and the B.C. Medical Association on the method to implement the program.
“Quitting cold turkey can be tough, and quit smoking aids can help people not only quit, but also prevent them having a relapse and starting to smoke again,” said Scott McDonald, CEO of the B.C. Lung Association, in a press release.
For help quitting smoking, please contact the Central Island Smoking Intervention Clinic at 250-714-9164 or go to www.cisic.ca.
Free, confidential 24-hour telephone counselling is also available by calling 1-877-455-2233 or online at www.quitnow.ca. The helpline is operated by the B.C. Lung Association and funded by the B.C. Ministry of Health.
– with files from Tom Fletcher