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Doctors, advocates demand e-cigarette regulation
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An e-cigarette cafe employee (right) is vaping beside a customer in Jakarta, on Jan. 9, 2018. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
D
octors and health groups have urged the government to put a stricter regulation against electronic cigarettes in the proposed omnibus bill on health amid growing numbers of users, particularly among young people.
Roughly 10 years after e-cigarettes or vapes were first introduced to the Indonesian market, their sale and distribution remain largely unregulated.
Indonesia is the only country in the Southeast Asia region that does not implement a specific regulation on the distribution and marketing of e-cigarettes, in marked contrast to Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei and Thailand, which have imposed a complete ban on the products.
The only form of e-cigarette control that was implemented by the Indonesian government is a 2017 ministerial regulation stipulating a maximum 57-percent tax excise for e-liquid used in e-cigarette devices.
Health advocates urged lawmakers and the government to finally regulate e-cigarette sales in the omnibus bill on health that is currently being deliberated by House of Representatives Commission IX, overseeing healthcare and manpower.
However, in the current draft of the omnibus bill on health available for the public, there are still no provisions that specifically regulate e-cigarette sales.
Head of the Tobacco Control National Committee, Tubagus Haryo Karbianto, said regulating the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes remained crucial to protecting the public from their harmful effects.
