JAKARTA: More Indonesians are picking up the smoking habit and because of this, health authorities are urged to impose stricter regulations, including prohibiting cigarette advertising and promotion.
Health expert Professor Tjandra Yoga Aditama said this during an online media discussion held by the Indonesia Institute for Social Development (IISD) on Monday, according to Antara news.
"There must be a ban (regulation) on advertising and promotion, and sponsorship that is even better and more strict in the revision," said Aditama, former director of infectious diseases at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Southeast Asia.
Currently a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Indonesia, he said that the global trend of smokers has shown a decline but not in Indonesia.
"There has been an increase in Indonesia—from 61.4 million people, it (the figure) rose to 70.2 million in 10 years," he said and cited data of Indonesian smokers in 2011 and 2021 by the Indonesia Global Adult Tobacco Survey.
In addition to the increase in the number of smokers, cigarette sales also increased by 7.2 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year while the use of e-cigarettes also rose from 0.3 percent in 2011 to 3 percent in 2021.
Because of these factors, certain regulations need to be revised in order to protect the wellbeing of the people in Indonesia, he said.