Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - Approximately 10 years ago, the WHO (World Health Organization) estimated that, every day, between 80 and 100 000 children smoked their first cigarette. The figure has not been updated but the statistics are still alarming. According to the director of the National Commission for Child Protection, in Indonesia over a half million children start smoking at the age of 4, and become addicted to tobacco with the consequence of violent behavior in situations of abstinence. Furthermore, since this is the fourth most populous country in the world, with over 76 million children, it is legal for anyone to buy and smoke cigarettes. In 2010 a video of a baby, just two years of age was released, who smoked up to 40 cigarettes a day and became irritable if one tried to stop him. Currently it is estimated that worldwide one out of five children under 16 smokes. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 29/3/2012)
