Gangnam District in Seoul has announced the initiation of the “Goodbye Nicotine Project,” aimed at assisting residents who have resolved to quit smoking in the new year. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Gangnam District in Seoul, under the leadership of District Mayor Cho Sung-myung, has announced the initiation of the “Goodbye Nicotine Project,” aimed at assisting residents who have resolved to quit smoking in the new year.
The project is particularly noteworthy given the district’s status as the area with the highest number of businesses (108,588) and workers (802,908) in Seoul, reflecting its unique local characteristics.
As part of the initiative, mobile smoking cessation clinics will be activated, visiting various businesses to provide essential services.
These include basic health surveys, personalized one-on-one smoking cessation counseling (four sessions), and support with nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, and behavioral therapy aids tailored to individual needs.
Businesses interested in participating can gather at least five employees who wish to quit smoking and apply through the district’s smoking cessation clinic.
In addition, the district will focus on identifying single-person households in need of smoking cessation support. Building on the promotional success of last year’s smoking cessation clinic in collaboration with the Gangnam District Single-Person Household Community Center, the district plans to continue offering customized health consultations to single-person households this year.
The project also includes targeted counseling linked to health information for individuals identified as “needing to quit smoking” based on national health examination results, with a focus on those with hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia.
District Mayor Cho expressed his hopes for residents who have decided to quit smoking this year to successfully do so with continuous support from the health center.
He pledged to continue providing a wide range of support, including on-site smoking cessation counseling for office workers and single-person households, leveraging the district’s capabilities as Seoul’s top-rated non-smoking city.
The Gangnam District smoking cessation clinic offers a one-stop service from counseling to treatment, encouraging smoking cessation through basic health consultations, nicotine dependency tests, and providing medical treatment and management support for heavy smokers and those who have previously failed to quit.
Last year, the district approached its smoking cessation support as part of a “healthy vascular management” concept, linking it with health check-ups at the health center.
As a result, 2,813 individuals participated in smoking cessation education and counseling, 1,632 registered at the smoking cessation clinic, and 32.9% successfully quit smoking.
The district was awarded the Grand Prize in the “Creating a Non-Smoking Seoul” project in 2023 and was selected four times in a row as an excellent institution for smoking cessation treatment by the National Health Insurance Service.
According to the 2023 Community Health Survey, the smoking rate in Gangnam District was 15.2%, the third lowest among Seoul’s 25 districts.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
