If you've wandered through Istanbul's busy squares lately, you may have noticed health workers striking up friendly chats with smokers. Since April, Tobacco Control Teams from the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate have reached more than 20,000 people in streets and gathering spots across the city, and over 7,000 of those conversations have led to referrals to quit services.
The teams aren't there to lecture. They approach smokers to explain the risks of tobacco, run quick nicotine dependence tests and measure carbon monoxide levels in a breath sample — a surprisingly effective way to make the effects of smoking tangible. Anyone interested in quitting is pointed towards one of more than 60 free smoking cessation clinics across Istanbul, located in hospitals, family health centres and Healthy Life Centres, or to the Alo 171 counselling hotline.
Dr. Mete Güngör, deputy head of the directorate's Public Health Department, frames the numbers starkly: tobacco causes more than 7 million deaths worldwide each year, and secondhand smoke is a serious risk to non-smokers too. That's why the city pairs its outreach with enforcement of smoke-free areas, aiming to protect people who don't light up.
What happens at a clinic? Staff assess your level of dependence and general health, then build a personalised quit plan. That can include medical examinations, psychosocial counselling and cessation medications supplied by the Health Ministry at no charge. Appointments go through the Centralized Doctor Appointment System (MHRS), and mobile teams of doctors now bring support directly into neighbourhoods, with online options added for accessibility.
So why should a traveller care? A holiday — especially in a city where smoking remains common in cafés and hookah lounges — is often when people either light up more or decide it's finally time to stop. If you're a smoker travelling to Istanbul and want to quit, the support infrastructure here is unusually accessible: the hotline, the clinics and the medications are free, and the street teams are trained to talk without pressure. Even if you're not a smoker, the smoke-free air inspections are good news, meaning more restaurants, indoor spaces and public areas where you won't be breathing someone else's cigarette smoke.
For locals, this is a significant public health push. For visitors, it's a reminder that Istanbul is actively cleaning up its air in shared spaces — and that if you've been toying with the idea of quitting, help is a free phone call (or a street conversation) away.
Reporting: Daily Sabah Travel
