Hong Soon-ok, Bupyeong District Councillor: "Senior Smoking Prevention Guardians Must Go Beyond Simple Jobs to Become Effective Smoking Cessation Measures"

Incheon Bupyeong District is set to actively promote the 'Senior Smoking Environment Guardians' project, which aims to guide smoking behaviour in non-smoking areas such as subway stations in conjunction with senior employment. In this regard, Bupyeong District Council has suggested the need for securing expertise and system improvements to enhance the actual success rate of smoking cessation beyond a simple campaign.

During the second report of the Urban Environment Committee at the 274th Bupyeong District Council temporary session held on January 29, Councillor Hong Soon-ok (Independent, Gal-san 1 & 2-dong, Samsan 1-dong) focused on questioning the effectiveness of the '2026 Senior Smoking Environment Guardians Project', which has been allocated as a new project this year.

According to the Health Promotion Division of Bupyeong District Health Centre, the project involves forming teams of two from 20 seniors to be stationed around Bupyeong Station, Sangok Station, and Galsan Station, where there is a high flow of people and frequent smoking complaints. A district official explained, "To reduce friction arising from detecting smoking among the younger generation, we have focused on improving awareness through gentle guidance from seniors."

Councillor Hong Soon-ok identified 'the quality of job training' as the top priority for the project's success. She stated, "Before being deployed on-site, training in conflict management with smokers and specialised knowledge related to smoking cessation must be conducted. It should include professional activities that go beyond merely standing with a sash, linking with the health centre's smoking cessation clinic to effectively encourage quitting smoking."

In response, a district official said, "We plan to conduct over two hours of specialised training through smoking cessation counsellors in February, and we are planning active linkage activities such as distributing promotional materials for the smoking cessation clinic."

During the meeting, the issue of residents' access to information was also raised. Councillor Hong stated, "It is inconvenient that there is no separate guidance when searching for non-smoking areas on the district website," and demanded, "Since the data for lifestyle management has already been established, the search quality should be immediately improved so that residents can easily check non-smoking areas at a glance."

Furthermore, Councillor Hong urged, "To ensure that this project does not remain a one-time job initiative, specific performance indicators such as the registration rate for the smoking cessation clinic must be supported by the end of the year. If the results are confirmed, please increase the project budget to create a structure where seniors' social participation and residents' health promotion can mutually benefit each other."