Figures from the Ministry of Health, which cited the drugs regulation authority, Infarmed, showed that the number bof boxes of Champix (a smoking cessation medication whose active ingredient is varenicline) rose 52% year on year in January of this year.

The ministry of Health noted the effect of a drop in cost of the medication – which the State has subsidised by 37% since January – considering that this “makes it possible to reach strata of the population that are economically more disadvantaged, for whom the price factor is more significant and potentially an obstacle to the decision to stop smoking.”