NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SCHEME
APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL
An anti-depressant drug, proved to be effective in tackling smoking addiction, will be offered under the universal healthcare scheme to encourage long-term smokers to quit the habit.
Prateep Tanakitcharoen, deputy secretary-general of the National Health Security Office, said Nortriptyline would be added to the national drug list to help reduce the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. It will be offered to patients under the scheme to help them quit smoking.
The drug costs only one baht a tablet and each smoker needs 270 tablets over a period of three months to increase his chances of quitting, said Somsri Pausawasdi, president of Healthcare Network against Tobacco Consumption.
"Although Thailand has been praised worldwide for its efforts to control tobacco, the country could still do more to improve access to treatment among smokers," she said.
An estimated 11 million Thais are smokers. Each year, about 60 billion baht is spent on treating smoking-related illnesses, such as lung cancer, bronchitis, heart and cardiovascular diseases.
More than 50,000 Thais die of tobacco-related diseases each year.
Katha Bunditananukul, president of Thai Pharmacy Network for Tobacco Control, said Nortriptyline had more side-effects than newer drugs, including dry mouth and throat, and headaches. However, the newer ones were also more expensive.
Tests over 20 years had shown that the drug could help tackle long-term smoking addiction.
Many domestic and international studies show a strong link between depression and smoking.
He believed making Nortriptyline - a second generation tricyclic anti-depressant marketed under the trade names Sensoval, Aventyl, Pamelor, Allegron and Nortrilen - available under the universal healthcare scheme would strengthen tobacco control efforts.
In February, authorities imposed a ban on smoking in entertainment outlets. The ban covers air-conditioned bars, pubs, discos and clubs.
The Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre at Mahidol University is studying its effects.
The number of young Thai female smokers has increased by 10%, according to a survey of 3,093 female students. New smokers are as young as 12 years old.
Staporn Jirattananon, campaigner for the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation, or ASH Thailand, said tobacco companies developed sales strategies such as offering flavoured and thin-sized cigarettes to draw females.
Few anti-smoking campaigns focused on female smokers. This resulted in an increase in female smokers not only in Thailand but all over Asia.
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