Introduction:
Article 14 of the FCTC recommends facilitating access to smoking cessation medication. Until 2018, some EU countries had specific free of charge program for NRT, but no country had proposed general reimbursement of smoking cessation drugs as reimbursement of others essential drugs. In France a retrospective reimbursement up to 150 € per year of NRT was only partially successful until 2018 because patients received only a retrospective and often partial reimbursement.

Recent story:
In 2016 the laboratory who market varenicline has requested reimbursement of th drug in France and obtained on the criterion of a high-level medical service and obtain a 65% reimbursed by French national insurance with a price of 32,84 euros for the box of initiation of 14 days and 69,25 euros for 56 tablets for 4 weeks. In May 2018 a generic laboratory asked and obtain the 65% reimbursement for a nicotine gum, then all NRT are now reimbursed. Patient have nothing to paid to obtain drugs because the remaining 35% are taken in charge by complementary assistance. For patients with 23 listed chronic disease receive 100% reimbursement by national insurance.

Results:
Consumption of varenicline and NRT had dramatically increase in France when medication became free of charge for the patient.

Conclusion:
France has become the first country where smoking cessation drugs are covered by national health insurance. The first results are very positive, and all European countries must be encouraging to obtain the same availability of free of charge smoking cessation drugs for all smokers.