Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2019 to Question 229719, what the most effective smoking cessation aids are; and what steps the Government is taking to promote those aids.

There is a range of effective stop smoking treatments available in the United Kingdom.

Licensed nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), particularly different products used in combination, increases the rate of quitting by 50% to 60%. The research findings are available in a report at the following link:

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000146.pub5/full

The prescription medicine Bupropion has similar efficacy to NRT, and Varenicline increases the chances of long-term quitting success between two and three times compared to a quit attempt without the use of a stop smoking aid. The research findings are available in a report at the following links:

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000031.pub4/abstract

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006103.pub7/full