Media release from Pfizer New Zealand

From 1 November, Champix® (varenicline tartrate), a prescription-only treatment for smoking cessation in adults, will be fully funded via PHARMAC (New Zealand Pharmaceutical Management Agency) through a special authority application from a general practitioner.  

In New Zealand there are approximately 597,000 smokers over the age of 151 and, at any one time, around 45% of smokers are trying to give up2.  

"The Government's focus on tobacco control and reduction in the incidence of smoking is an important health priority.  The ability to access fully funded Champix® is excellent news for smokers and their families," says Frances Benge, Managing Director of Pfizer New Zealand.

Champix® is a prescription medicine that can help break nicotine addiction.  It has a dual mode of action, and works in the brain to help reduce the urge to smoke and make smoking less pleasurable3. Champix® is also designed to block the action of nicotine in the brain, therefore if a person smokes while on Champix®, smoking might not be as rewarding, and therefore easier to resist3.   "For most people smoking is both a physical and behavioural addiction and because of the way Champix® works it offers a different approach to treating the addiction, which has been used by millions of smokers around the world," says Frances Benge.

The funding criteria contained in the special authority positions Champix® for smokers who have tried and failed to quit using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) on two different quit attempts.    Champix® will also be fully funded and available to smokers who have tried and failed to quit using Zyban®… or Norpress®¥.  

Clinical trials have shown that after 12 weeks of Champix®, smokers were about 4 times more likely to stop smoking that those who took placebo (sugar pills). After 9 months without medicine, those who had taken Champix® were about 3 times more likely to still be not smoking than those who had taken the sugar pills3.  

Champix® is not for everybody, and patients who want to stop smoking using Champix® should ask their doctor if this medicine is right for them.  

Smoking cessation with or without the support of a medicine such as Champix® can be associated with withdrawal symptoms.  Smokers who used Champix® have reported changes in mood, behaviour or thinking, and sometimes these changes have been serious. It is not known if those changes are related to the medicine or to stopping smoking. Before using Champix® it is important to read the consumer medicine information available on the Medsafe website www.medsafe.govt.nz and to discuss the potential benefits and risks with a doctor.  

Ministry of Health Smoking Cessation guidelines emphasise the importance of helping smokers to quit with both medicine and support through face-to-face meetings or telephone support4.  The availability of fully funded Champix® combined with support and counselling from health professionals provides another option for smokers who are ready and willing to quit smoking.

Champix® is taken as an oral tablet for a period of 12 weeks.  People wanting to quit smoking should visit their doctor to see if Champix® is right for them.