Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Health Ministry is formulating regulations on cigarette and vape packaging and health warnings as part of efforts to make tobacco products less appealing, particularly to children and teenagers, and prevent them from taking up smoking.The ministry's acting director general for disease prevention and control, Andi Saguni, said here on Friday that cigarette and vape packaging often serves as a form of promotion that attracts young people and encourages them to start smoking.”One of the provisions in the draft regulation is the standardization of packaging, or plain packaging,” Saguni said, noting that under the law, the products must follow specific design standards, such as color, and pictorial health warnings.He added that brand names and fonts would still be permitted, provided they comply with the regulation.Saguni noted that numerous global studies have shown that plain packaging is effective in making tobacco products less attractive, enhances the effectiveness of health warnings, and discourages smoking initiation.Moreover, data also shows that there is a concerning number of young smokers in Indonesia, and such challenges need to be addressed through several initiatives to ensure the youth remain healthy, he said.The regulation is a follow up to Law No. 17 of 2023 about Health, which is elaborated in Government Regulation number 28 of 2024 on its implementation, he explained.The director general said that in the regulation, there will be a 12 months of transition period for the implementation of new packaging design requirements.”Protecting public health, particularly children and teenagers, is the top priority. We want to ensure that the next generations grow healthier, free from nicotine addiction, and have better quality of life,” he noted.He also said that this kind of policy is not a new thing, as Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, France, Brunei Darussalam, and Myanmar have taken similar approach in tobacco control.