The government is offering free nicotine patches to smokers in England planning to quit in the new year.
A week's free trial of the patches - part of the NHS Stop Smoking Quit Kit - will be available at many chemists for the first time from 1 January.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley told the BBC he hoped people would then complete the full course. Mr Lansley said: "We're hoping that more than 400,000 people will try to give up smoking using the Quit Kits supplied by the Department of Health."
The Department of Health has ordered 300,000 of the kits and has an option to buy an extra 105,000 if demand is high.
