Indonesia needs strict tobacco regulations to protect its citizens from cigarette addiction and smoking-related diseases, an official says. 

Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, deputy chairman of the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) and a member of the tobacco control commission, said Saturday he hoped the Health Ministry could spearhead an inter-departmental anti-tobacco campaign.

The Health Ministry has not yet received a response to a draft regulation on tobacco previously submitted to the coordinating public welfare minister, he said.

“It all depends on the political will of the Health Ministry. They can press other ministries for support,” Tubagus said.

Indonesia still lacks a strict law to control tobacco and cigarettes other than the regulation mandating cigarette packages display health warning messages, he added.

Tubagus said Indonesia has not banned tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, nor has it ratified the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that severely restricts cigarette marketing and advertising.

“There are attempts to stall deliberation of the bill on the health impact of smoking,” Karbyanto said.

Some cigarettes companies launch campaigns that contend that farmers will suffer if any regulation is issued, he said.

A recent study by the University of Indonesia’s School of Demographics shows that 65 percent of the country’s tobacco farmers want to plant other crops or find new work related to trading, researcher Abdillah Ahsan said.

“Most of them want to switch from tobacco to rice, corn, vegetable or bean farming,” she added.

Almost 70 percent of Indonesian households buy tobacco products, according to the report.

Low-income households spend 17 times more on tobacco than on meat, 15 times more than for healthcare, and nine times more than for education. The number of smokers from the low income bracket reaches 12.6 million, according to the survey.

In the poorest households, cigarette spending is preferred to something that could sustain them tomorrow — an investment, Abdillah said.

“Imagine that people lose an opportunity for education, home renovations or even a haj pilgrimage in exchange for smoking one pack of cigarettes every day for 10 years,” Abdillah said. (ipa)

(The Jakarta Post, 05/07/2010)