Promotion of Differentiated Smoking Cessation Policies Including Mobile Smoking Cessation Clinics
Gangnam-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong) announced on the 5th that it was selected as the ‘Best’ district in the smoking cessation support service category at the ‘2024 Smoking Cessation Project Excellence Evaluation’ hosted by Seoul City on the 4th. This marks the third consecutive year Gangnam-gu has been chosen as the best district.
Earlier, the district explained that last month it was selected as an excellent case among nationwide districts in the ‘2024 Community Smoking Cessation Environment Creation Best Practice Discovery’ hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, reaffirming the excellence of Gangnam-gu’s smoking cessation policies.
Reflecting the characteristics of an area densely populated with businesses, the district took the lead in creating a smoke-free environment by operating mobile smoking cessation clinics and a smoking cessation fund. Through agreements with 12 workplaces to operate the smoking cessation fund and providing incentives for those who succeeded in quitting smoking for six months, 102 out of 216 participants succeeded, achieving a success rate of 47.2%.
In particular, by collaborating with one business and utilizing district funds to pilot the smoking cessation fund, and introducing a method of matching smokers with colleagues as smoking cessation supporters, the will to quit smoking was strengthened. As a result, the smoking cessation success rate at this institution greatly improved from 8.6% last year to 57.7% this year.
Meanwhile, since single-person households account for 40.2% of all households in Gangnam-gu, increasing their smoking cessation rate is important. Accordingly, through active smoking cessation promotion in cooperation with the Gangnam-gu Single-Person Household Community Center, the number of smoking cessation clinic registrants among center users increased significantly from 4 to 125.
The district also strengthened prevention activities related to liquid-type electronic cigarettes, which adolescents may encounter out of curiosity. This year, prevention education and campaigns were conducted for 9,739 students at 15 schools to raise awareness of the dangers of new types of tobacco.
Additionally, in September, the district revised an ordinance to newly designate eight public parking lots within the district, which had frequent smoking complaints, as non-smoking areas. The non-smoking areas have been enforced since November 1, and after a promotion and guidance period until February next year, full-scale enforcement will be carried out to protect residents’ health.
District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong stated, “Being selected as the best district for three consecutive years is the result of customized smoking cessation policies for residents and continuous efforts,” adding, “We will continue to actively cooperate with private organizations to solve the ongoing smoking issues and expand the smoke-free environment to support the healthy lives of our residents.”
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