Mass media asked to join anti-smoking drive<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Anti-smoking lobbyists in Indonesia are urging
\nthe local mass media and organizers of sports competitions,
\nbeneficiaries of huge sponsorship and advertising spending by
\ncigarette manufacturers, to join in their endeavor.<\/p>\n
That was the message that came out of a one-day seminar on the
\nrole of the media in promoting non-smoking behavior, held at the
\nBorobudur Inter-Continental Hotel yesterday to coincide with the
\nInternational No-Smoking Day.<\/p>\n
The anti-smoking campaign would remain ineffective so long as
\nthe media and sports organizers continue to accept funds from
\ncigarette producers, according to speakers at the seminar.<\/p>\n
\"The media plays a crucial role in persuading non-smokers not
\nto adopt the habit and encouraging smokers to give it up,\" Robert
\nJ. Kim-Farley, the chief representative of the World Health
\nOrganization in Indonesia, said in his keynote speech.<\/p>\n
The media should actively use its power to back legal
\nmeasures, particularly in banning tobacco advertising and other
\nmoves aimed at countering the image of smoking as socially
\nacceptable behavior.<\/p>\n
However, since cigarette advertising constitutes the largest
\nrevenues for the media, Kim-Farley appealed to the government \"to
\nhelp the media to stand up against the pressure of tobacco
\nindustry as a provider of advertising revenue by giving them
\nmonetary compensation in return for their refusing cigarette
\nadvertising.\"<\/p>\n
\"The government can collect a certain percentage of the taxes
\nthat are being put on cigarettes and give that to the media as
\ncompensation for not having ads which would otherwise bring in
\nrevenue,\" Kim-Farley told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"Let say for example the media shows over the last year that
\nthere was US$500,000 of advertising money received from tobacco
\ncompanies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"If the media would agree to stop tobacco advertising, the
\ngovernment would then use some of the money it is getting from
\nthe taxes on the sales of tobacco products and give $500,000 to
\nthe newspaper, let say, to compensate for the loss of revenue
\nthey would accrue.\"<\/p>\n
No-Tobacco Day<\/p>\n
He cited an example from the Tobacco Alert, a special issue
\nreleased for this year's World No-Tobacco Day, that last year the
\nFrench government was considering allocating one percent of the
\ntaxes on tobacco to offset the loss of revenue by the media.<\/p>\n
Former health minister Adhyatma, one of the pioneers of anti-
\nsmoking campaign in Indonesia, said that lobby's spending pales
\nin comparison to the huge funds tobacco producers are spending on
\nadvertising.<\/p>\n
Judith MacKay, the director of Asian Consultancy on Tobacco
\nControl, told the Post the state of Victoria in Australia has
\nintroduced a compensation system for sports.<\/p>\n
\"What they [the state] said was there would be no tobacco
\nsponsorship in the sports. We will impose five percent extra tax
\nduty on cigarettes and give that money to the sports
\norganizations so they will not suffer a major financial setback,\"
\nMacKay said.<\/p>\n
The Tobacco Alert also reported that the Victoria state has
\nadopted a system by which five percent of the taxes levied on the
\nwholesale price of tobacco products is allocated to the setting
\nup the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation.<\/p>\n
Mackay, who said her name is included in a list of \"the most
\ndangerous threats to the tobacco industry\", said that Indonesia
\nshould also set an anti-tobacco legislation. (arf)<\/p>",
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