Jakarta, May 7, 2025 – The number of active smokers in Indonesia continues to show an upward trend, including among children and adolescents. Based on the 2023 Indonesia Health Survey (SKI) conducted by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the number of active smokers is estimated to have reached 70 million people. Of this total, 7.4% are children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years old — a warning bell signaling the urgency of tobacco control from an early age.

In response to this situation, Jalin Foundation has launched the RAW (Resilient, Awesome, Wise) campaign, a social marketing movement designed to encourage behavioral change among teenage boys. The campaign focuses on preventing smoking initiation and supporting those who want to quit smoking through a creative, participatory, and youth aspiration-based approach.

The Executive Director of Jalin Foundation, Dian Rosdiana, emphasized the importance of actively involving teenagers in designing campaign strategies.

“Effective tobacco control strategies must involve their voices. RAW is here not only to deliver messages, but also to provide a space for teenage boys to express themselves and feel heard,”
she said during the campaign launch talk show session.

According to a 2024 survey by Jalin Foundation, the average age at which teenagers start smoking is 13 years old. As many as 12% of boys aged 12–19 are active smokers, while 24% use electronic cigarettes. Even so, there is hope — 22% of them have tried to quit smoking and managed to stay smoke-free for at least one month, although most of them (45%) returned to smoking in less than a month. The biggest factor causing them to relapse is peer influence (32%).

Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi, M.Epid, Director of P2PTM at the Indonesian Ministry of Health, stated that tobacco control campaigns should indeed focus on teenage boys.

“This group is very important in the context of the demographic bonus. We must create an environment and a system that makes them uninterested in trying cigarettes in the first place, and help those who already smoke so they do not continue into adulthood as smokers,”
she stressed.

Dr. Nadia added that one of the government’s efforts to reduce smoking prevalence among teenage boys is the implementation of smoke-free area policies in schools and public facilities, age restrictions on cigarette purchases, and the ban on cigarette advertisements on social media.

RAW serves as a safe and positive platform for teenage boys to build self-confidence through various creative activities, such as social media interactions, healthy hangouts, and group physical activities. Support from parents and teachers is also included to create an ecosystem that encourages a healthy, smoke-free lifestyle.

Dian hopes that this campaign can reduce social pressure, strengthen teenagers’ psychological resilience, and improve access to smoking cessation support services.

“RAW is not just a campaign. This is a collective movement to protect our younger generation,”
she concluded.

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