MPR Deputy Speaker Urges Concrete Action to Curb Child Smoking

Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat has urged all stakeholders to take concrete and measurable action to reduce the number of child smokers in Indonesia. She emphasised that public understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle must be continuously improved, starting from the family environment, so that awareness to build a strong and resilient generation continues to grow. Data from the Indonesian Health Policy Room (RUKKI) Foundation reveals that throughout 2025, 2.03 million teenage smokers in Indonesia spent Rp4.5 trillion annually to purchase 4.17 billion cigarettes. Lestari stated that these figures are not merely statistics, but a crisis alarm threatening the future of Indonesia’s Golden Generation 2045. According to the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey, the prevalence of smokers aged 10–18 years was recorded at 7.4 percent. Rerie, as she is familiarly known, noted that this figure remains higher than the 5.4 percent target set in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2024–2029. She insisted that this record must be followed up immediately with real steps by all parties so that the established target can truly be realised. The member of House Commission X appreciated several technical efforts made by the government to prevent and suppress cigarette sales to children and adolescents. She argued that early awareness campaigns about the dangers of tobacco and nicotine require cross-sector collaborative support. The most important step, according to Rerie, is strengthening the understanding and application of a healthy lifestyle from within the family and educational environments. She stressed that good habits must start in the family setting, with parents educating their children early so that a healthy lifestyle becomes part of daily family and community life. Rerie affirmed that saving children from the dangers of smoking is a long-term investment to realise a healthy, productive, and competitive Golden Indonesia.