While there is no doubt that quitting smoking is not a cake walk, it has been found that an eight-year-old boy from Indonesia has managed to do just that. He was smoking since the age of four, and it was indeed not easy for anyone to leave such a habit.

It was actually quite difficult for Ilham’s parents to control his temper when he was denied a cigarette as the boy used to get so violent. It was then his parents approached the independent Child Protection Commission that the boy was able to get rid of the unhealthy habit. Though, it is indeed imperative that he is being supported by one and all to make sure that he doesn’t start smoking all over again.

Not even this, his father has also managed to kick the habit a month ago, and is planning to ensure that his boy is being closely tracked in an Islamic boarding school, where he’s planning to send his son. As of now, as many as
20 cases have been reported in Indonesia suffering from smoking.

It seems that the situation is Indonesia was all the more serious, as reflected from a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO). It was claimed in that report that in excess of 37% of high school and university students were smoking from 2006, which made it clear that Indonesia has become the hub of young smokers.

The ironical part is that despite knowing all this, the government has not been able to do anything conclusive besides levying high excise duty on such products. With 89 million Indonesians smoking, it has become all the more imperative that this issue is not being neglected and must be attended with full attention by the authorities concerned in the time to come else situation can become a lot worse.