South Korea: More Smokers Seek Gov''t Help to Quit

Source from:  Korea Times 11/10/2014

An increasing number of smokers are seeking government help to quit smoking as it is moving to raise cigarette prices from January next year.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, from September to October, 91,855 people registered with public health centers' smoking cessation programs nationwide. Last year, 60,475 people signed up during the same period.

The ministry believes its plan to raise the average price of cigarettes by 2,000 won ($2) brought about the 51.9 percent boost.

Among all major cities, Sejong City, a special administrative district where 12 government ministries are situated, showed the biggest percentage increase from 111 to 359, followed by Daejeon, from 1,347 to 2,498, and Busan, from 3,563 to 6,348.

The ministry said it will expand the budget support to 37.4 billion ($34.5 million) won next year from the current 12 billion won.

According to data of the ministry, around 44 percent of Korean men smoke, the highest rate among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Around 25 percent of its total adult population smokes.

The government aims to lower the male smoking rate to 29 percent by 2020 and predicts that the price hike will cut tobacco sales by 34 percent.

In a ministry survey last month, 32 percent of respondents aged over 19 said they would quit smoking if prices went up as planned. Enditem