Indonesian Health Minister Urges Youth to Shun Smoking

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, on World No-Tobacco Day on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, urged young people in Indonesia to live a new life without smoking.

The no-smoking policy would be more effective in reducing the prevalence of smoking and improving the health of citizens if it is supported by a change in lifestyle, he explained.

"This is the best move to live a healthy life, without us spending money, giving instructions and regulations," he added.

He highlighted that living a life without tobacco is like practicing a new healthy habit like jogging or cycling. The two activities are now loved by many in Indonesia.

According to Minister Sadikin, the same habituation has been proved by the emergence of a new coffee culture where people consider it cooler to take coffee without sugar.

That movement could help reduce the prevalence of diabetes in Indonesia, he said.

The same strategy is applied by the tobacco industry to make people who smoke look cool, which has led to many Indonesians picking up the smoking habit, he informed.

He said that the strategy can be applied in other forms to promote a healthy lifestyle without smoking.

"(The strategy must focus on) How to make young people see that smoking is not cool, not stylish, that smoking is an old time thing," he expounded.

Promoting non-smoking among young people can be a part of efforts to prevent the emergence of a new generation of smokers in Indonesia, the minister said.

"There are some creative ways to educate people. I think this is more creative than banning," he added.

ANTARA

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