4 February 2024 at 18:10PUBLISHED
Cytisine, a drug used to stop smoking, is now on Thailand’s list of necessary medications. To lower the risk of lung cancer, the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) wants to make the medication available to everyone who needs assistance quitting smoking.
Lung cancer is one of Thailand’s five most prevalent malignancy forms, according to Dr. Withit Saritdeechaikul, secretary-general of the FDA.  ,
On Sunday and National Cancer Day, he stated that smoking cigarettes increases the risk of developing lung cancer 20 to 30 days.
Given the high cost of treating and caring for tumor people, he said that prevention is the best course of action when dealing with cancer and its effects.
The majority of smoking cessation medications are expensive, making it difficult to obtain them in Thailand. That definitely discourages many people from giving up, he said.
Cytisine was found to be extremely efficient, safe, and affordable by the FDA sub-committee in charge of recommending changes to the nation’s lists of necessary medications.
Cytisine can now be bought over the counter and given to patients under the president’s universal health care program for free because it has been removed from the list of controlled substances and is now considered an important treatments, he said.
According to Dr. Withit, any pharmacy will sell a low-cost version of the medication made by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization ( GPO ) for those who are not eligible for the health plan.
In a different growth, Cholnan Srikaew, the public health minister, observed World Cancer Day by highlighting advancements in cancer treatment, treatment, and prevention techniques at state-run medical facilities.
Some more healthcare rights, according to the National Health Security Board president who oversees the universal care program, have been incorporated into the program’s main benefit package.
Plaque treatment, transscleral illumination of the tumor base with a nuclear implant to treat ocular tumors, robotic surgery for patients with different types of cancer, proton therapy, and an annual mammogram and sonar breast cancer screening test were among the significant new treatments and services over the past year.
According to Minister Cholnan, the National Health Security Office ( NHSO ), which oversees the healthcare program, recently collaborated with the national cancer institute to launch an online version of a questionnaire used to evaluate people’s risk of developing cancer and the necessity of taking the BRCA1/BRCA2 gene screening test.
More people may decide to take the tumor protein screening test to confirm their high risk of developing cancer as a result of this initial cancer risk monitoring quiz being made available online, he said.