Stop-smoking drugs: Should governments pay?
- August 31, 2010 10:21 AM |
- By POV
All provincial drug plans should pay for quit-smoking treatments, medical journal editors say.
Only Quebec publicly funds all smoking-cessation drug therapies, while Yukon and Prince Edward Island reimburse at least the cost of anti-tobacco products, according to the editorial in Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
About 5.5 million Canadians, or 19 per cent of the adult population, currently use tobacco -- a number that has not decreased in recent years.
But a 2009 review suggested fully reimbursing the cost of smoking cessation medications significantly improved one-year abstinence rates among smokers. Those who quit tobacco live, on average, an additional four years, the editorial said.
Read more.
Have you ever used drug therapies to help you quit smoking? Do you think government drug plans should cover the costs of stop-smoking drugs?
(This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
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