Smoking prevention programs for young people in Korean health insurance corporations

The objectives of this study were to look into the present conditions and problems of smoking prevention programs for young people carried out by the Korean health insurance corporation(KHIC) and to provide the basic data for the governmental policy. In order to examine the actual achievements of existing smoking cessation programs, a survey was conducted over 235 KHIC branches. The person responsible for the cessation program from each branch responded to questionnaire sent by mail with regard to smoking cessation programs The survey shows the shortage of responsible persons. educational subjects were mainly elementary, middle school and high school students. The main educational method was to watch the video of which the content is the knowledge of smoking. but most of these videos were made for adults. Therefore, these videos are not appropriate for the children. 37% of these branches estimated the effectiveness of their program. On the basis of the survey data and analysis of current situations, the following actions are recommended in order to develop a more effective cessation program; first, the establishment of the effective administrative plan, second, the supplementation of the educator and the responsible person, third, the development of text books and videos which are appropriate for the children.ope