Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Mar 18;80(4):248-250.
doi: 10.1136/thorax-2024-222391.

Availability, cost and affordability of essential medicines for smoking cessation in low-income and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study

Catherine Plum  1 , Marie Stolbrink  2   3 , Obianuju Ozoh  4   5 , Shamanthi Jayasooriya  6 , Rebecca Nightingale  7 , Kevin Mortimer  8   9   10 , David Halpin  11
Affiliations

Availability, cost and affordability of essential medicines for smoking cessation in low-income and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study

Catherine Plum et al. Thorax. .

Abstract

Smoking cessation is more effective when supported by medicines. Data on the availability, cost and affordability of these treatments in low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC) are limited. Cross-sectional data for smoking cessation medications were collected from pharmacies, healthcare facilities and central medicine stores in 60 LMIC (2022-2023). Medications had varying availability, large price ranges and were essentially unaffordable. Enabling access to these medications is important in reducing tobacco consumption and associated disease. Strategies for integrating smoking cessation services into health systems are needed to reach Sustainable Development Goal targets.

Keywords: Smoking cessation; Tobacco control.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: KM reports advisory board fees from AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline. No other competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Availability and affordability of nicotine gum, nicotine patches and bupropion by region.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organisation Regional office for europe, tobacco control and sustainable development goals. [6-Oct-2023]. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/librariesprovider2/euro-health-topics/tob... Available. Accessed.
    1. World Health Organisation Tobacco: Framework convention on tobacco control. 2017. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/tobacco-and-the... Available.
    1. Shankar A, Parascandola M, Sakthivel P, et al. Advancing Tobacco Cessation in LMICs. Curr Oncol. 2022;29:9117–24. doi: 10.3390/curroncol29120713. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organisation WHO releases first-ever clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults. 2024. https://www.who.int/news/item/02-07-2024-who-releases-first-ever-clinica... Available. - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO, Model List of Essential Medicines, 22nd list Medications for disorders due to psychoactive substance use. 2021. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240077164 Available.

Publication types

MeSH terms