Child protection commission demands ban on cigarette ads

The National Commission for Child Protection has called on the government to ban the advertisements of all tobacco products so as to avoid what they said was, "the exploitation of children's curiosity".

Commission chairman Seto Mulyadi told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday that cigarette advertising had the ability to incite curiosity in the minds of the young.

"The more familiar they are with the products, the more eager they are to know more," Seto said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Another thing that makes it easier for Indonesian children to smoke, he said, was the availability of the product in public places.

"It would be better if the government limited the amount of places that can sell cigarettes," he said. (and)