With drinking, smoking and obesity taking an increasingly heavy toll on Korean society, the government needs to step up its campaign against these health risks to reduce their socioeconomic costs.

A recent study by the Health Insurance Research Institute has estimated the ill effects of these three key health risks at 23.3 trillion won ($19.8 billion) in 2013. The figure accounts for about 46 percent of the total medical bills covered by the national health insurance scheme that year.

The institute has measured the socioeconomic costs incurred by the three major health risks every two years since 2005. The figures have been steadily increasing, starting from 13.5 trillion won in 2005.

In 2013, drinking accounted for slightly more than 40 percent of the costs with 9.4 trillion won, followed by smoking at 7.1 trillion won and obesity 6.8 trillion won. When seen in terms of the pace of increase, obesity-related costs came top, with a 220 percent increase during the past eight years, faster than the 162 percent for smoking and 156 percent for drinking.

The HIRI study suggests a need for the government to step up its campaign for drinking in moderation as excessive alcohol consumption takes the heaviest toll.

Moderate drinking means a bottle of beer, a glass of wine or a shot of liquor a day for women and double the amount for men.

The report also highlighted the importance of preventing obesity as related costs continue to rise. A recent survey found that the number of extremely obese Korean adults increased 1.6 times between 2002 and 2013.

To cope with the problems associated with obesity, the National Health Insurance Service launched a war against obesity last December.

The agency recommends walking as the best cure for obesity. It advises men to take 11,000 to 12,000 steps a day and women 8,000 to 12,000 steps.

To discourage smoking, the government more than doubled the tax levied on cigarettes last year, which increased the price of cigarettes from 2,500 won a pack to 4,500 won.

The increase is estimated to have boosted the government’s tax revenue from smokers by 4.3 trillion won last year, much more than the government had originally expected. 

The sharp revenue increase means cigarette consumption did not fall as much as expected. The government needs to allocate a larger portion of its revenue increase to the antismoking campaign.

To curb the socioeconomic costs of drinking, smoking and obesity, the government needs to redouble its efforts to enhance awareness that staying fit and healthy goes beyond the dimension of personal lifestyles and constitutes a part of people’s responsibilities toward society.