TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - CEO of Lentera Anak Indonesia, Hery Chariansyah said the government had failed in protecting children from cigarette. He said the number of children smoking cigarette is increasing.
The data from Lentera Anak Indonesia revealed that smokers at the age of 10-14 years have increased from 9.5 percent in 2001 to 17.5 percent in 2010. As for the age group of 14-19, the number increases from 12.7 percent to 20.3 percent during that period.
Hery claimed that he concerns the increasing number, given that cigarette industry now targets children, potentially beginning to smoke. "Their target are now children," he said.
Therefore, Hery urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) to immediately ratify the Frame Work Convention on Tobancco Control (FCTC) before his term ends. FCTC will not doom cigarette industry and tobacco farmer, instead it protects the younger generation, he said.
TRI SUSANTO SETIAWAN
