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Govt seeks to tighten tobacco controls in bid to stub out underage smoking
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A volunteer talks to a minimarket cashier about the dangers of cigarettes during a campaign against child smokers in Cengkareng, West Jakarta on March 7, 2021. (Antara/Muhammad Iqbal)
T
he government is planning to strengthen its relatively lax regulation on smoking in a bid to curb the increasing number of child smokers in the country.
Under a planned new regulation, the Health Ministry is looking to control the promotion and packaging of e-cigarettes, which have remained unregulated since their legalization in 2018.
The ministry is also seeking to increase the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging from 40 to 90 percent, ban the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products and prohibit the selling of single cigarettes.
Imran Agus Nurali, the ministry's director of health promotion and community empowerment, said that authorities were currently seeking to revise Government Regulation (PP) No. 109/2012 on the restriction of addictive tobacco substances for health.
The ministry argues that the prevailing regulation is no longer sufficient to prevent underage smoking.
"Underage smoker numbers continue to increase each year, especially following the legalization of e-cigarettes. We need stronger measures to reduce tobacco consumption to protect our future generations from the impact of smoking," Imran said in a webinar on Thursday.
Imran explained that based on a survey in Timor Leste, which has implemented 90 percent graphic health warnings on tobacco packs, increasing the size of the warning has proven to be effective in discouraging people from buying cigarettes and deterring first-time smokers.
