The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare proposed Wednesday to cover doctors' antismoking counseling services with public health insurance schemes as part of efforts to stem the nation's ballooning medical costs, ministry officials said.
The ministry filed the proposal with the Central Social Insurance Medical Council, an advisory body to the health minister, for deliberations. It hopes to introduce the plan in fiscal 2006, starting in April.
The ministry has concluded that smoking leads to lifestyle-related diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and obesity, and will eventually push up the country's medical costs.
The health ministry plans to cover doctors' antismoking counseling fees with public health insurance schemes to help smokers quit.
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