Retail cigarettes suspected to be the reason for increased smoking among children
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If not checked immediately, that figure is expected to rise to 16 percent.
medialnews, JAKARTA — The research team of the Center for Social Security Studies at the University of Indonesia (PJKS-UI), Risky Kusuma Hartono, said the prevalence of child smokers between 2013 and 2018 had increased by 9%. If not checked immediately, that figure is expected to rise to 16 percent.
Risky said that one of the reasons that led to the increase in the prevalence of child smokers was the sale of cigarettes. ketengan or retail. According to research conducted by the PJKS-UI team at DKI Jakarta, there are still cigarette stalls within a radius of less than 100 meters around the school area that retail cigarettes.
He explained that, if you look at them by level, there are retail cigarette stalls that have a radius close to schools, namely in elementary schools up to 21 percent. While for lower secondary up to 26 percent and up to 15 percent for high school / vocational school.
“There is an increase of 21% near elementary school and 26% near high school. Compared to data from Riskesdas, where there is an increase in the prevalence of children smokers from primary to primary school due to the large number of cigarette stalls in the area. that, ”Risky said in a virtual chat Wednesday (6/6).
He said the school location still has easy access to buy cigarettes. The PJKS-UI team also refined its research by distinguishing between public and private schools. Risky explained that the results showed that the location of private schools was more exposed to cigarette stalls.
In this regard, the PJKS-UI team encourages the government to revise PP 109/2012 on cigarette regulation to also ban the sale of stick cigarettes. Cigarettes, Risky said, are quite affordable as average sales for a week are over 300 cigarettes, averaging Rp 1,500 per stick.
“The effectiveness of increasing the minimum price of cigarettes in the excise policy will not be optimal if the sale of cigarettes is still allowed, because cigarettes are still easily accessible, affordable and the best-selling brands are allowed to be sold. be sold in sticks, ”Risky said in explaining.
In addition, central and local governments should encourage the implementation of restrictions on the sale of cigarettes at retail, especially in places close to school zones. Regulations on the sale of cigarettes by the packet also need to be tightened. Risky also encourages the school to supervise the students so that they do not smoke.
