"Our smoking prevalence is currently decreasing, especially teenage smokers aged 10-18 years, from 9.1 percent in 2018 to 7.4 percent in 2023," the ministry's Director of Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated on Tuesday.
However, she emphasized that multi-sector efforts are still necessary, as fiscal or non-fiscal policies alone are insufficient.
"Smoking is one of the risk factors for NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases), and smoking is very difficult to stop. We need to make efforts to prevent smoking in children and teenagers. Furthermore, active and passive smokers are also facing the same risk," Tarmizi stated.
One of the efforts to prevent children from smoking can be carried out by regulating health messages on packaging.
Apart from the health messages, Tarmizi emphasized the importance of other multi-sectoral efforts, including establishing smoke-free areas in schools and playgrounds and prohibiting the sales of individual cigarette sticks.
"There should be no advertisements within 500 meters of educational places and children's playgrounds and no cigarette sales within a radius of 200 meters from educational places or children's playgrounds," she stated.
Tarmizi urged parents to educate themselves about electronic cigarettes, emphasizing the importance of understanding their distinct appearance to effectively protect children from using them.
"It is better to replace cigarette spending with spending to buy protein-rich food for the family. Remember, one cigarette is equal to one egg," she remarked.
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that in 2018, some 38 countries had quite high cigarette taxes.
Meanwhile, the WHO's 2016 analysis results recorded that cigarette consumption in China decreased after cigarette taxes increased. WHO estimates that the number of cigarettes in China dropped by 3.3 percent in April 2015-March 2016 compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.
WHO also stated that Colombia experienced a 34 percent decrease in cigarette consumption in 2018 due to the tripled cigarette taxes from 2016-2018.
Moreover, Colombia's tax revenue, which is used for its universal health insurance, has nearly doubled.
Translator: Mecca Yumna, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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