REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Health Ministry recorded cigarette had been a threat for the country’s development. The data also showed that younger smokers were increasing. It added that there were children who start smoking on five years old.

Director of Health Promotion in Health Ministry Dedi Kuswenda said 54 data in basic health research (Riskesdas) in 2013 showed the percentage of smokers between 10-14 years old reached 17.3 percents, 56.9 percents aged between 15-19 years, and 0.21 percents aged 5-14 years old.

“This is incredible,” said him in the forth Indonesian Conference on Tobacco or Health (ICTOH) in Jakarta on Friday (May 12).

Based on National Census on Social and Economic (Susenas) 2015, as many as 0.21 percents people aged 5-14 becomes smokers. As many as 19.65 percents aged between 15-24 years old.

In fact, cigarette was considered to be dangerous as it contains addictive and toxic substances. But, the young men were still interested on consuming it.

Advertisements also gave an image that it was great to be a smoker. Cigarette was the major risk factors of non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart disease and blood vessels as well as obstructive lung disease.

Therefore, Dedi said the health ministry prepared the anticipation of higher babies mortality caused by cigarette effects. He said the bad habits had annually killed at least 235 thousands of people. It needed huge amount of treatment costs.

Based on the data of Health Insurrance (BPJS Kesehatan) stated that Rp16.9 trillion of 29.76 percents of national health insurance (JKN-KIS) was absorbed for catastrophic diseases. It means that cigarettes threats human’s life and national development.

“Here we have roles to prevent it,”he said.

Dedi also reminded that Indonesia had Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 17/2016 which mentioned about the implementation of non-smoking area.

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