5.9 Million Children in Indonesia Smoke, Health Ministry Reveals 4-Year-Old Smoker

The government is currently drafting derivative regulations from Government Regulation Number 28 of 2024, which aims to protect children from exposure to tobacco products. The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) considers the high number of young smokers to be the main reason for tightening cigarette policies.

Kemenkes stated that Indonesia remains one of the countries with the largest number of smokers in the world. Amid a declining trend in cigarette consumption in many countries, consumption in Indonesia is actually increasing, raising concerns that it will increase the burden of non-communicable diseases in the future.

Benget Saragih, Head of the Tobacco-Related Disease Control Working Team at Kemenkes, said his ministry understands the differing views with the economic sector. However, from a health perspective, the government is obliged to protect the younger generation from the impact of cigarette consumption.

‘The Ministry of Health is here to protect the nation’s children. Even if there are differences with economic interests, we must still voice the protection of children’s health. It will certainly be discussed together across ministries to find a point of harmonisation,’ said Benget.

He explained that, based on the Indonesian Health Survey, the number of adult smokers reached around 63 million people. While the prevalence of child smokers has indeed decreased, the absolute number has actually increased to around 5.9 million children.

Kemenkes also highlighted the increasingly early age at which a person starts smoking. According to Benget, beginner smokers as young as four years old have now been found. This condition is considered alarming because nicotine exposure at a young age can increase the risk of addiction and disease later in life.

‘People who smoke do not necessarily get sick today. The impact only becomes apparent 10 to 20 years down the line. The younger a person starts smoking, the harder it is to quit because nicotine affects brain development. That is our concern,’ he said.

In addition, Kemenkes considers product packaging, advertising, and the presence of various flavour variants to be factors that attract the interest of children and teenagers to try smoking. Therefore, the government is proposing standardisation of packaging colours so that health warnings become more effectively visible.

Benget stressed that the regulation being drafted is not a plain packaging policy as widely perceived by the public. According to him, brand identity and product logos are still allowed to be included on the packaging.

‘We are not implementing plain packaging. What is regulated is only the colour standard so that the health warning is more effective. Brands and logos can still be used, so this is not plain packaging,’ Benget asserted.