Smoking incidence down

The Government of South Korea has credited the country’s anti-smoking campaign for having brought about a fall last year in the incidence of tobacco smoking among men aged 19 or older, according to a Yonhap News Agency story.
The incidence of smoking among men had decreased ‘substantially’ in 2017, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, without providing figures.
The ministry is set to provide figures in its annual report in November.
South Korea’s population-wide smoking rate fell from 47.8 percent in 2008 to 40.6 percent in 2015. The smoking rate increased to 40.7 percent in 2016.
In January 2015, South Korea increased the price of cigarettes by 80 percent, from 2,500 won (US2.25) per pack to 4,500 won per pack, in an effort to curb smoking. And annual sales of cigarette packs duly dropped from 4.36 billion packs in 2014 to 3.32 billion packs in 2015; and though they rebounded to 3.66 billion packs in 2016, they dropped again to 3.44 billion packs last year.
In 2016, the government forced tobacco companies to include graphic warnings on the upper part of both sides of cigarette packs.
The Government has since said it plans to add 12 new graphic warnings, which, from December 23 will have to be included also on heated-tobacco products.