The National Authority for Medicines, Products and Health (Infarmed) told Lusa that a new prescription-only medicine will be available on the market next month, while the other, with the active substance varenicline, also subject to prescription, was recently made available.

The generic version is of the medicine Champix, which was the only medicine subsidised by the State, but which was withdrawn from the market in 2021 by the decision of the laboratory.

On the European Ex-Smokers' Day, celebrated today, the coordinator of the SPP's Working Committee on Smoking, Sofia Ravara, welcomed this measure, highlighting that there are studies that show that low prices motivate smokers to quit.

In addition, it triples the success rate of treatment, because it increases adherence to pharmacological treatment, said the head of the SPP, who launched the campaign “Quitting tobacco and nicotine: an achievable goal with treatment”.

The professor at the Beira Interior University was speaking after the SPP had calculated the gains that can be made by quitting smoking with the subsidy of two drugs, especially the generic, and concluded that “continuing to smoke costs five times more than undergoing treatment”.

“Its cost is around 26 euros for the normal taxpayer and 20 euros for the pensioner. If we consider, for example, that one of the cheapest brands to smoke costs 4.7 euros per pack of tobacco, a person who smokes 20 cigarettes will spend 141 euros per month, while if they follow the treatment they will spend 26 euros or 20 euros if they are a pensioner”, she highlighted.

For the specialist, this saving is “extremely appealing”, and she hopes that “smokers have this information”.

She highlighted the importance of carrying out regular campaigns, as is the case in countries such as the United States and England, on local radio stations, in health services, and on social media, to motivate smokers and promote treatment, “because it can be difficult to quit smoking” and using nicotine products, electronic cigarettes, and heated tobacco, “but it is an achievable goal with treatment”.

The expert explained that heated tobacco and vapes, like conventional cigarettes, are devices that deliver nicotine that is inhaled through the lungs, which quickly reaches the bloodstream and the brain, releasing dopamine and other neurotransmitters that cause pleasure and well-being.

Their regular use easily induces dependence and, on the other hand, nicotine deprivation causes suffering and an intense desire to consume, hence the importance of pharmacological treatment and follow-up with a specialist in smoking cessation consultations who will help the smoker in the work of changing their behaviour.

Pointing out that the subsidy of more medicines is “excellent news”, Sofia Ravara argued that it would also be important to subsidise nicotine substitutes that “cost a lot of money”, such as lozenges and patches with oral forms of nicotine.


Price increase

On the other hand, it advocated an increase in the price of heated tobacco and electronic cigarettes, through taxation, at a time when the State Budget for 2025 is being discussed, noting that there are brands that cost around three euros, less than normal tobacco, as well as a pack of cigarillos.

The SPP also calls on the Government and political decision-makers to expand “totally smoke-free social environments” and to guarantee access to comprehensive smoking cessation programmes, strengthening the network of specialist consultations in the NHS and in the community.

It also advocates training healthcare professionals to systematically address smoking in routine clinical practice and the creation of a specialist NHS telephone line to help people quit smoking.

“Likewise, it is urgent to protect children, adolescents and young adults from the misleading and perverse marketing of the tobacco and nicotine industry, regulating their activities and effectively enforcing the tobacco prevention and control law”, it stresses.