South Korea saw the number of participants in a state-funded anti-smoking program spike in 2016 from a year ago, but it failed to use the program's budget fully, data showed Tuesday.

Slightly over 358,700 people signed up for the quit smoking program in 2016, up a whopping 57 percent from the previous year, according to the data by the National Health Insurance Service.

The 12-week program, aimed at helping current smokers kick the habit, provides the cost for counseling and anti-smoking pills for participants who complete it, with dropouts shouldering part of the cost. In the first nine months of last year alone, only 39 percent of the 268,974 participants finished the program.



Due to the high dropout rate, only 76 percent of the 108.1 billion won ($94 million) budget earmarked for the program was spent last year. However, last year's budget execution rate was up sharply from 23 percent the previous year as more money was spent on advertising.

Experts still insist that the program, which was a key part of the government's anti-smoking policy package announced in 2015, has not produced satisfactory results. Among other things, South Korea jacked up the price of cigarettes by 80 percent to 4,500 won ($3.92) per pack in 2015 in an effort to curb smoking.

In order to coax more smokers to join the program, the government should not only redouble publicity activity but also increase the number of hospitals, clinics and community health centers that participate in the program, they said.

The anti-smoking program, which costs about 440,000 won to complete, is provided at medical institutions with staffers who have a nonsmoking eduction provided by the service.

So far, more than 21,000 doctors have completed a related education program, but only 11,745 hospitals and clinics have offered anti-smoking programs at least once in the past three months.

Analysts said hospitals are reluctant to treat participants because the service-set cost is too low compared to the long hours needed for consultation and treatment, calling for the active participation by health centers numbering 1,600 nationwide.

Meanwhile, government data showed Monday that sales of cigarettes in South Korea fell for three months running in February following a government push to imprint health warning graphics on the outside of packages. Starting in December 2016, graphic images of damage caused to internal organs by smoking were placed on the upper part of cigarette packets. (Yonhap)