Ministry Of Health: Cigarette Shopping In Families 3 Times Higher Than Egg

UNSPLASH/Lex Guerra ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) revealed that spending on cigarette shopping in the family is three times higher than shopping for eggs.

"What is sad is, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2021, the percentage of per capita expenditure per community in urban areas for filter kretek cigarettes is 11.30 percent, while for broiler eggs only 4.30 percent," said the Head of the Working Team for Disease Control Due to Tobacco at the Ministry of Health, dr. Benget Saragih reported by ANTARA, Thursday, January 9.

Meanwhile, the percentage of per capita expenditure for people in rural areas is based on BPS data for filter kretek cigarette spending, which is 10.78 percent, very different from spending on broiler eggs of 3.69 percent.

Benget also explained, based on data from the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), the purchase of bars among teenagers is also still high, which is 71.3 percent.

"60.6 percent of teenage smokers are not prevented due to age when buying cigarettes," he said.

In fact, based on research, there were 86 percent of cases of death from lung cancer related to smoking behavior, and 71 percent of cases of death from lung cancer in men related to smoking behavior.

According to him, one of the reasons for the high percentage of teenage smokers is the attractive color and design in cigarette packaging which actually makes promotional tools so that people are in great demand.

"Children and adolescents have not been able to independently make good or bad decisions for their lives. Therefore, the government must provide protection by forming policies," he explained.

One of the policies that need to be implemented in Indonesia, according to Benget, is the application of standard packaging or plain packaging (plain packaging) in cigarettes. In Southeast Asia, four countries that have implemented the standard packaging policy are Thailand, Singapore, Laos, and Myanmar.

"25 countries already have regulations regarding the standard packaging/lain packaging of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes, and if Indonesia implements the policy, then we will become the 26th country," he said.

He emphasized that currently the Ministry of Health is drafting the Minister of Health's Regulation Plan (RPMK) on Standardization of Packaging for Tobacco Products and Electronic Cigarettes in accordance with the mandate of Government Regulation (PP) Number 28 of 2024 concerning Implementation Regulations of Law Number 17 of 2023 concerning Health.

The packaging standardization, said Benget, includes the shape and color of the packaging, images on health warnings, health warnings, health information, and product information.