"Those who want to quit smoking can receive counseling, guidance, and referrals if needed. This service will help anyone keen to quit smoking but unable to come to a health facility for a consultation," stated Maria Endang Sumiwi, the ministry's director general of public health, in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Sumiwi remarked that the provision of services was based on the potential dangers of smoking, especially on the growth and development of children, as evidenced by research conducted by the Center for Social Security Studies at the University of Indonesia (PKJS-UI) in 2018.
Findings from the study showed that toddlers living with smoking parents grew 1.5 kilograms less than children living with non-smoking parents. Moreover, 5.5 percent of toddlers living with smoking parents had a higher risk of stunting.
She noted that smoking was also one of the obstacles hindering efforts to reduce Indonesia's stunting rate, which remained at 21.6 percent until 2022, while the stunting percentage limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) is only 20 percent.
Sumiwi stated that based on data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, adults in the family spend an estimated Rp382 thousand per month on buying cigarettes.
She suggested that in addition to contributing to the prevention of stunting through smoking cessation, the money spent on cigarettes could be allocated to provide animal protein sources, such as eggs, to children in order to prevent stunting.
"I hope Indonesian families can allocate their spending and reprioritize it, not on cigarettes," she emphasized.
Meanwhile, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, the ministry's director general of disease prevention and control, said that the service was provided because the consumption of cigarettes and tobacco products had socioeconomic and health impacts.
Data from the 2021 National Socioeconomic Survey stated that family spending on cigarette consumption was three times higher than spending on protein needs in the family, making spending on cigarettes the second-largest in the family and three times higher than the money spent on buying eggs.
According to Rondonuwu, cigarettes constituted the second-largest percentage of family spending, reaching 11.9 percent in both urban and rural areas, which could have been used instead to consume nutritious foods such as eggs, meat, and chicken.
People seeking consultation to quit smoking can contact the Ministry of Health services via Facebook Messenger @p2ptmkemenkesRI, Telegram at the link https://t.me/quitina_bot, or the official website of the Ministry of Health https://p2ptm.kemkes.go.id/. All services can be accessed free of charge.
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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma S, Resinta S
Editor: Anton Santoso
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