VANCOUVER — Two groups are calling on the B.C. government to pay for medication that will help people kick the habit.

The BC Lung Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. and Yukon say smoking must be treated as a serious chronic condition and that smokers should get subsidized access to quit-smoking medication and physician counselling.

The groups say Quebec and Saskatchewan already provide the subsidies.

Heart and Stroke Foundation CEO Diego Marchese says quit smoking medications are expensive and most public and private insurance plans don't cover them.

He says giving people access to the products is an important step to help them quit smoking instead of trying to do it cold turkey, which he says often fails.

The Lung Association and Heart and Stroke Foundation say research shows that 70 per cent of B.C.'s 550,000 smokers want to kick the habit.