Jakarta, May 7 -- The Ministry of Health underscored the importance of protecting the younger generation from the dangers of smoking, particularly in light of the growing popularity of electronic cigarettes.

"Today, the key issue concerning first-time or teenage smokers is how we can protect our children, especially from e-cigarettes," the ministry's Director of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated during the "Soft Launch RAW: Resilient, Awesome, and Wise" event here on Wednesday.

Tarmizi noted that tobacco companies are aggressively promoting e-cigarettes to youth by highlighting the variety of flavors, making them more appealing than conventional cigarettes.

"Electronic cigarettes have more flav...