Gwangjin-gu Wins 'Excellence Award' for Healthy City Award

Creating a Living Quarantine Environment with Elevator Hand Sanitizer Installation for All Generations and Free Rental of Disinfection Sprayers

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) won the Grand Prize for outstanding COVID-19 response policies in the ‘2020 Korea Healthy City Awards’ competition hosted by the Korea Healthy Cities Association.

The ‘Korea Healthy City Awards’ selects winners by evaluating 103 full member cities of the Korea Healthy Cities Association based on creativity and innovation of projects, sustainability and potential for expansion, interdepartmental collaboration, and establishment of resident governance.

Gwangjin-gu received high praise for creating an environment where residents can practice healthy and safe living while maintaining social distancing through the ‘Wise COVID-19 Healthy Living Practice’ project.

The district focused on creating an environment conducive to practicing daily quarantine measures. Accordingly, hand sanitizers were installed in elevators for all generations within the area, and free rental of disinfection sprayers was provided to residents.

Additionally, official letters requesting cooperation with quarantine guidelines were sent to religious facilities at risk of group infections, and efforts were made to conduct disinfection activities in entertainment districts.

In particular, the district received favorable evaluations for its ‘Non-face-to-face and Customized Healthy Living Practice Project,’ which was promoted to address health blind spots caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, due to its novelty, sustainability, and high potential for expansion.

The project includes ▲providing COVID-19 prevention kits to traditional markets ▲the ‘Walking Alone’ project ▲a salt meter rental program to encourage healthy eating habits ▲operation of mobile services for smoking cessation and alcohol moderation ▲and providing health care kits for elderly dementia patients.

Furthermore, resident-led projects such as ‘Neighbor Health Monitoring’ and ‘Formation of a Public-Private Cooperative Sharing Culture Utilizing Local Resources’ were conducted, leading to the establishment of resident governance.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “While maintaining a thorough quarantine system to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we are conducting various non-face-to-face programs to care for residents in health blind spots that may be overlooked due to the focus on COVID-19. We will do our best to ensure that all residents can return to a healthy and normal daily life.”

Meanwhile, Gwangjin-gu joined as a full member of the Korea Healthy Cities Association last year and is dedicated to establishing policies to realize a health-friendly and sustainable ‘Healthy City Gwangjin.’