Smoking cessation medicine ** may wish to pilot

Minister of Health Chen Hao recently said at the “Challenge on Strategies for Chronic Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Treatment” that he will gradually incorporate smoking cessation counseling and drugs into basic health insurance by deepening the reform of medicine to tobacco control. Some netizens questioned this claim, quit smoking is determined and determined, if you use medical insurance funds to pay for quitting, "a limited number of good steel is not used on the blade."

After the news of “quit smoking medicine into health insurance” was reported, it caused hot public opinion – smokers and their families clap their applause. Non-smokers think that it is to take the national health insurance fund to pay for smokers, of course, raised the opposition card. Since the opinions of the public are different, is it worth promoting the “smoking cessation medicine into health insurance”? The author believes that for Chen Hao’s expression, it is too early to conclude a simple underground conclusion. A scientific and sensible approach is to conduct trials first, depending on how effective they are and then promote them.

Smokers have brought secondhand smoke into the air during the smoking process. Scientific research shows that secondhand smoke is more harmful than active smoking. From this perspective, smoking is clearly not an individual behavior, and it affects the family environment and even the public environment. In the final analysis, it is a social issue that needs to be given enough attention.

The harm to tobacco has formed consensus throughout the world. Because of this, as early as May 2003, the World Health Assembly adopted the "World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" and called on all countries to carry out the widest possible international cooperation to control the widespread tobacco epidemic. China, as one of the earliest member states to join the Framework Convention, has continuously strengthened its control of tobacco in recent years in order to improve the quality of life of the people through tobacco control. According to media reports, China’s annual death rate from tobacco-related diseases is about 1 million, which exceeds the total number of AIDS, tuberculosis, traffic accidents, and suicide deaths, and accounts for 12% of all causes of death. Such data is sufficient to illustrate the importance of tobacco control. The fact that smoking causes illness is an indisputable fact. Even if smoking cessation medicines are not included in the medical insurance, medical insurance must still pay for the diseases of smokers, but it is only reflected in other ways.

At present, if the treatment of smoking cessation, a course of drug costs over 3300 yuan, which means that spending a few thousand dollars can achieve the purpose of quitting. There are 350 million smokers in China. Once the “medical insurance for smoking cessation” is implemented, the cost will naturally not be low. However, in the long run, the cardiovascular, lung, and cancer diseases caused by smoking will take far. Far more than that. Therefore, it is necessary and reasonable to “enter medical insurance for smoking cessation”. In fact, it is through the early intervention of the medical insurance system to reduce the expenditure on smoking-related diseases, which is a big money to save money and is worthy of recognition.

Of course, although "smoking cessation medicine into the medical insurance" is feasible, but it also needs to undergo a scientific assessment, the best way is to pilot in some cities in advance, continue to accumulate experience in the pilot process, the formation of a relatively complete system, and then fully implemented. At the same time, it is necessary to fully explain and interpret the original intention of the policy, so that the public understands the importance of “smoking cessation medicine into the medical insurance” and strives for more public support.