Media Release

17 December 2007

Wider access to subsidised Nicotine Replacement Therapy

The Ministry of Health will next year be expanding access to the subsidised Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) programme.

From February, all GPs, midwives, dentists, optometrists and nurse practitioners will automatically be included in the Quit Cards (NRT) programme.

This will mean this group of about 15,000 health practitioners will be able to distribute Quit Cards, which give access to subsidised NRT products, without having to attend a training course as is currently required.

The move follows the update of the comprehensive New Zealand Smoking Cessation Guidelines, which were published and distributed in August this year. The Guidelines provide evidence-based guidance for health care workers in their contacts with people who smoke tobacco.

The Quit Cards programme, which was first introduced in 2000, currently enables health practitioners, individuals, and groups with an interest in smoking cessation to distribute exchange cards directly to their clients once they have completed a one-day training course. Quit cards are also delivered via the Government-funded Quitline.

There are currently only about 400 GPs participating in the Quit Cards programme across the country.

Under the scheme, smokers can obtain an eight-week supply of nicotine patches or gum for a subsidised cost of between $10 and $20.

Later this year, it is anticipated the Quit Cards programme will also be widened to include a nicotine lozenge.

Ministry of Health Chief Advisor Public Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the aim is to widen access to subsidised NRT and to increase the number of smokers making quit attempts with the aid of NRT.

"Evidence has shown that using NRT can double a smoker's chance of quitting long term regardless of the type of support they are receiving," Dr Bloomfield says.

"However, increasing the number of quit attempts is the key to increasing the quit rates – the addition of NRT is secondary to this. The evidence continues to accumulate that reliably and consistently providing brief advice in primary care prompts quit attempts," he adds.

"Since its inception, the Quit Cards programme has proved incredibly successful and last year, there were nearly 48,000 Quit Cards redeemed."

Increased access to subsidised NRT comes from new Government funding announced in Budget 2007 to boost New Zealand's ongoing battle against the tobacco epidemic.

All GPs, midwives, dentists, optometrists and nurse practitioners will be sent an information pack, which will include Quit Cards and a summary of the New Zealand Smoking Cessation Guidelines, in early February.

More information is also available on the website www.quit.org.nz

The increased access to the subsidised NRT programme coincides with the introduction of pictorial warnings on cigarette packets in late February, which is expected to increase quit attempts.

The aim of the pictorial warnings is to educate smokers about the lesser-known serious health risks of smoking such as smoking causes gangrene, smoking causes mouth and throat cancer and smoking causes blindness. Tobacco packages will also carry the Quitline number.

Ends

For further information, please contact Kelly McAra, +64 4 496 2141