Figures released yesterday have shown that Scottish doctors are writing increasing numbers of prescriptions for anti-smoking medications.
There has been a 31% increase in the number of smokers taking drugs to try to kick the habit over the past year, according to the statistics issued by the Information Services Division Scotland. It has been suggested that the increase is due to the launch of a new service where local pharmacies can offer access to stop smoking treatments.
The Public Health Minister for Scotland, Shona Robison, said that smoking was the biggest preventable cause of death in Scotland and was responsible for over 13,500 deaths each year. She said that the increase in prescriptions being written showed that increasing numbers of people were seeking support to give up cigarettes.
Data also showed there has been an increase in the number of prescriptions being written for slimming tablets, mainly the fat-blocker Xenical (Orlistat). There was a 3% rise from the previous year, increasing by 3,041 prescriptions to 113,365. 78,000 of those prescriptions were for Xenical.
Ms. Robinson said that the decision to prescribe slimming pills or not is ‘between a doctor and their patients’ but added that the Scottish government had introduced a number of measures to improve health in Scotland, tackle obesity and encourage more exercise.