Responding to a report by the Company Chemist's Association (CCA), which found that commissioning pharmacies nationally to provide stop smoking services could help over 225,000 people to quit smoking each year, Henry Gregg, Chief Executive of the National Pharmacy Association said:
"Smoking remains one of the leading causes of serious ill health in the country and community pharmacies can play a massive role in helping patients to quit.
"As this analysis shows, stop smoking services are too often a confusing patchwork quilt of local arrangements, with patients being faced with a postcode lottery to access the help they need and sometimes where a service does exist, it is not adequately funded.
"Pharmacies are highly accessible, located on the high street and in the heart of communities. They can be easily used by young people and others without the need for public transport or appointments, removing practical barriers to support.
"To help get the best support possible to patients, the government should nationally commission stop smoking services in pharmacies, which will reach much larger numbers of people and help reduce rates of smoking, improving and extending people's lives and easing the burden on our NHS."
