Vision for tobacco endgame in Korea: suggestions for countries with endgame aspirations

Abstract

Tobacco endgame is a focal point of discussion at both national and international levels. We aimed to describe efforts related to achieving the tobacco endgame in the Republic of Korea, an exemplar of a country with endgame aspirations, and compare them with the efforts of other nations. We reviewed the tobacco endgame efforts of three nations considered tobacco control leaders: New Zealand (NZ), Australia and Finland. The efforts/attempts of each country were described using an endgame strategy category. The tobacco control leaders had explicit goals to achieve a smoking prevalence of <5% before a target date and had legislation and research centres for tobacco control and/or endgame. NZ is implementing a mixture of conventional and innovative endgame interventions; the others use incremental conventional approaches. In Korea, there has been an attempt to ban the sale and manufacture of combustible cigarettes. The attempt led to the filing of a petition, and a survey of adults showed 70% supported the legislation banning tobacco. The Korean government mentioned a tobacco endgame in a 2019 plan, yet a target and an end date were absent. The 2019 plan in Korea included incremental FCTC strategies. Practices in the leading countries show that legislation and research are key to ending the tobacco epidemic. The MPOWER measures must be strengthened, endgame objectives must be set and bold strategies must be adopted. Key endgame policies include those with evidence of effectiveness, such as retailer reductions.