After Talking About DKI Gets Red Report Cards, Now Deputy Minister Of Health Conveys Death Due To Smoking

Deputy Minister of Health Health Dante Dante Saksono Harbuwono/ Antara

JAKARTA - Deputy Health Minister of Health Dante Dante Saksono Harbuwono said smoking could contribute to the second largest percentage of death rates in Indonesia after hypertension.

"So if we look at smoking, smoking contributes to the number two cause of death and comorbidities after hypertension, the number is above diabetes and obesity," said Dante, quoted by Antara, Monday, May 31.

This was conveyed by Dante after previously conveying that DKI Jakarta was the only province with a pandemic handling score with a red report card or an E score. However, Dante's statement was corrected by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin. According to Budi, what Dante said was not intended to categorize the performance appraisal of each region.

Back to cigarettes, said Dante, global conditions show that around 7.1 percent of the causes of death are non-communicable diseases that kill 36 million people per year based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO) 2018.

In Indonesia, based on risk factors for death, including high blood pressure or hypertension 28 percent, smoking 17.3 percent, unhealthy diet 16.4 percent, high blood sugar 15.2 percent, obesity 10.9 percent, and lack of physical activity. 4 percent.

According to Dante, smoking is one of the second-largest causes of death, so that many non-communicable diseases are closely related to smoking, such as cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease, pulmonary disease, stroke, and other cancer-related diseases.

Indonesia is one of the countries in the world that has a very high level of active smokers. Male smokers in Indonesia are the third highest in the world after India and China.

The prevalence of smokers in children aged 10-18 years, said Dante, increased by 7.2 percent in 2013 to 9.1 in 2018.

"Data on electronic smokers increased dramatically from 1.2 percent in 2016 to 10.9 in 2018, this makes us concerned because smokers in Indonesia are one of the most active compared to other countries," he said.

In 2020, said Dante, WHO reports that tobacco use kills more than 8 million people every year, consisting of 7 million active tobacco users, while 1.2 million people are passive smokers.

In addition, economic losses due to cigarettes are also large based on data from 152 countries in 2018 showing that every year the total economic activity or health expenditure and productivity losses are 1,436 billion dollars or Rp. 20,638 trillion. "Equivalent to 1.8 percent of the world's annual Gross National Income (GNP)," he said.

Dante added that the commitment to quit smoking is a change in individual behavior that has a positive impact on those around him. "Therefore, social support, friends, family, health workers are needed for smokers to commit to quitting smoking," he said.