In the past few weeks, you may have heard reports in the media about Department of Health (DH) sponsored “Quit Kits” for people wishing to stop smoking.

The Quit Kits will include various support materials and a voucher for a week’s free supply of NRT, and will be distributed from pharmacies in England. Having received the Quit Kit, the customer completes the voucher for NRT and returns it to DH – DH will then distribute one pack of NRT free of charge. An accompanying letter advises the smoker how to access further NRT.

The Quit Kits are supplied to pharmacies without charge. A poster and shelf wobblers are included to increase awareness of Quit Kits. There is a national advertising campaign promoting Quit Kits, and pharmacies that sign up to the initiative will be entered onto a national database to help smokers discover where they can obtain the kit.

To order Quit Kits for your pharmacy call 0800 678 3173. We understand that only limited stocks are available. Further details of the scheme are available on the NPA website.

The initial distribution of the Quit Kits was allocated by DH to selected pharmacy chains. NPA lobbied the DH demanding that all pharmacies should be given an equal opportunity to take part in this initiative. We are pleased that the availability has now been extended. The NPA will continue to monitor this programme, and we will call for a new allocation of Quit Kits, should demand outstrip the currently available stock.