Anti-smoking 'wonder pill' to be given on the NHS

Tests showed that nearly half of patients who took Champix gave up smoking within three months.

Now the government's "rationing" watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued draft guidance that the drug, which costs £2 a day, should be available on prescription.

Champix works on the 'pleasure centre' of the brain, reducing the feeling of satisfaction smokers get from a cigarette and relieving cravings and other withdrawal symptoms.

After three months of treatment, 44 per cent of smokers using it had given up, double the proportion who found success with Zyban, another anti-smoking pill available on the NHS.

It was also twice as effective as those on nicotine replacement therapy. Trials on 2,000 people found that after a year, 22 per cent had still not started smoking again.

The twice-daily pill, also known as varenicline tartrate, would cost the NHS £163.80 for the recommended 12-week course.

But patients would be able to ask their GP for a course for a prescription charge of just £6.85.

In February, the Daily Mail launched a campaign to end NICE restrictions on three drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease that cost £2.50 per day, just 50p more than Champix.

NICE's draft guidance is out for consultation. If there are no major objections, it will take effect in July, just after England goes smokefree on July 1, when a ban on smoking in virtually all enclosed work and public places comes into force.

A spokesman for NICE said: "Having looked at all the evidence, our independent committee has concluded that it appears to be a good way to help people who want to quit smoking.

"The draft guidance also recommends that varenicline should normally be provided in conjunction with counselling and support, but if such support is not available, this should not stop smokers receiving treatment with varenicline."

Most anti-smoking treatments work by supplying the body with a steady stream of nicotine through skin patches, chewing gums or inhalers, allowing the craving to gradually diminish.

Champix, however, is nicotine-free. It works by binding to nicotine receptors in the brain and reducing the severity of cravings.

It also reduces the satisfaction gained from smoking by interfering with the brain's production of the chemical dopamine, which is associated with pleasure.

The Champix molecule is based on a chemical found in the leaves of the cytisus laburnum tree, which was used as a tobacco substitute by soldiers in the Second World War.