The Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has officially declared that electronic cigarettes carry the same level of danger as conventional smoking. This warning comes amid a rising “beginner smoker emergency” in the country, where high nicotine concentrations in e-liquids are rapidly hooking young users.
Siti Nadia Tarmizi, Director of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control (P2PTM) at Kemenkes, highlighted that nicotine concentrations in local vapes reach up to 29–50 mg/ml. “So, 1 ml of vape is the same as 20 conventional cigarettes,” Tarmizi stated, emphasizing that this high concentration makes vaping highly addictive and difficult to quit.
The rapid rise in youth vaping has raised alarms at the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM). BPOM data indicates that 7.4% of Indonesian children and adolescents aged 10 to 18—representing over 5 million youth—are now active smokers of either conventional or e-cigarettes.
Health officials warn that early nicotine dependency is incredibly difficult to break and paves the way for severe long-term health complications, including:
- Cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
- Various forms of cancer.
- Impaired brain development and lifelong addiction struggles.
In response to these findings, the Indonesian government is urging parents and educational institutions to tighten supervision to protect the health of the nation’s future generation.