What we do not need: Iwan Fals and cigarettes<\/p>\n
Santi W.E. Soekanto, Journalist, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Virtually every newspaper and magazine in the country was
\ndelirious with adulation when they reported last week the concert
\nof music heroes Iwan Fals and Padi Group in Jakarta. They raved
\nhow impressive the concert and Iwan were, how the star came
\nacross as a humble and sympathetic man, and how they understood
\nwhy the mostly young audience loved this Time-Asia version of an
\nAsian hero.<\/p>\n
No one including Iwan seemed to realize that the numerous
\nbanners and posters of A Mild cigarettes decorating the event
\nmight mean the emergence of more young smokers and, eventually,
\nmore wasteful death. Iwan and the other stars have, perhaps
\nunwittingly, helped convince the young people that cigarettes are
\ncompatible with the vivacity of music and youth.<\/p>\n
That is what Indonesia does not need: More smokers and heroes
\nwho advocate this \"gateway\" to drugs. Campaigns for tobacco-
\ncontrol, however, have so far had to face such a \"giant\" namely
\nthe tobacco firms that produce brands such as A Mild and promote
\nthem at concerts and sporting events.<\/p>\n
Friday May 31, 2002 is World No Tobacco Day and Indonesia
\nneeds this celebration because more people are smoking in the
\npast decade here and in the Southeast Asian region than ever
\nbefore. The World Health Organization (WHO) has found that 1.1
\nbillion people in the world smoke today, and the figure could
\nrise to 1.6 billion by the year 2025. In countries with higher
\nincome averages, the number of smokers in general has been
\ndeclining in the past few decades but increasing among poor and
\nmiddle-income countries such as Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Reports said that in 2000, Indonesians smoked close to 200
\nbillion cigarettes and the number is expected to grow by 5
\npercent a year in the future as it has for most of the past 15
\nyears. It was reported last year that despite the economic
\nmeltdown, which cut the annual per capita income to $650 in 2000
\nfrom $1,100 in 1997, Indonesians did not stop smoking. Even
\nduring the worst of the late 1990s economic crisis when millions
\nof people were finding it difficult to have even one meal a day.
\nWhen people did not have enough money to buy lunch, nasi bungkus,
\nthey went out and bought a cigarette.<\/p>\n
In addition, Indonesia has the highest ratio of smokers to
\npopulation in the region. In fact, Indonesia is the world's
\nfourth largest tobacco consumer after the United States, China
\nand Japan. When overall consumption among the developed countries
\ndeclined by 10 percent between 1970-1990, it grew by 60 percent
\namong the developing countries. In Indonesia, tobacco consumption
\nbetween 1990 and 1997 grew by 44.1 percent.<\/p>\n
According to the National Agency for Drug and Food Control
\n(BPOM), 6.5 million people become affected with smoking-related
\ndiseases every year. The data said that smoking causes 90 percent
\nof cases of lip cancer, throat cancer, bronchitis and lung
\nproblems. It showed that smoking caused 75 percent of chronic
\npulmonary disease and 40 percent of cases of cerebra vascular
\ndisease.<\/p>\n
Estimates suggest that tobacco-attributable mortality has
\nrisen from 2 percent to 3 percent of all deaths in 1980 to 3 to 4
\npercent in 1986. This would suggest that about 57,000 deaths a
\nyear (primarily males) are already attributable to tobacco use,
\nand this number can be expected to increase dramatically within
\nthe next few decades.<\/p>\n
Why is Indonesia such a big nation of smokers that wastes so
\nmuch for health service costs for victims of smoke-related
\ndiseases? Blame it on the addictive nicotine, but also blame it
\non the giant tobacco firms who for years have been deceiving
\npeople into thinking that it is cool and glamorous to smoke.
\nBlame it on their marketing and promotional machines that
\nconvince the young people that tobacco goes hand in hand with the
\nlivelihood and vivacity of sports and music.<\/p>\n
This giant pumps hundreds of millions of dollars every year
\ninto sponsoring sports events worldwide. In the United States
\nalone, for instance, according to the Federal Trade Commission,
\nthe major domestic cigarette companies reportedly spent $113.6
\nmillion on sports and sporting events in 1999.<\/p>\n
This giant, in the first eight months of 1999, sold
\napproximately 127 billion cigarettes and, admittedly, provided a
\nlivelihood for millions of people in Indonesia. In fact,
\ncigarette taxes were a major source of finance in the ministry's
\nbudget last year, contributing around Rp 22.3 trillion and
\nearning the title of the top national taxpayers year after year.<\/p>\n
These firms, which have agents in countries such as Singapore,
\nMalaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Netherlands, Australia, France, Germany,
\nSwitzerland, California, Brunei Darussalam and the United Arab
\nEmirates are spending big money to counter the tobacco-control
\ncampaign by targeting increasingly younger people. A recent
\nGlobal Youth Tobacco Survey showed that most of the youths in
\nSoutheast Asia are highly exposed to tobacco promotions. In
\nIndonesia, nearly half the youth studied reported seeing tobacco
\nads, which gave them the feeling that smoking makes them look
\n\"trendy.\"<\/p>\n
Even Taufik Kiemas has reportedly hinted that the anti-tobacco
\ncampaign here should not proceed too quickly because that would
\nadversely affect the source of livelihood of those millions of
\nworkers in the industry and their families, not to mention his
\ngovernments largest source of tax revenue. If this is true,
\nthat's one of the biggest guns that Indonesian tobacco firms
\ncould come forward with.<\/p>\n
There are already intensive efforts underway to warn as many
\npeople as possible about the dangerous association of tobacco and
\nsmoking, helped by parties such as International Federation of
\nFootball Association (FIFA). The federation last November 2001
\nsigned a Memorandum of Cooperation with WHO for the removal of
\ntobacco from all football events associated with FIFA. In fact,
\nthe kick-off of 2002 FIFA World Cup coincides with the World No-
\nTobacco Day on May 31.<\/p>\n
This is an important step because football is the most popular
\nsport in the world and billions of people, especially youngsters,
\nlove football heroes. When FIFA tells them to never smoke, they
\nhopefully will listen.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the office of the WHO Representative has
\nappointed three well-known young figures to convince the
\nIndonesian youth that smoking is definitely not \"cool\" and in
\nfact dangerous. The three Health Champions of Indonesia are
\ntennis champion Angelique Widjaja, body builder Ade Rai and top
\nmodel Tracy Trinita.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, not too many youngsters rave when they watch
\nAngie, Ade or Tracy in action. Tobacco-control campaigners need
\nbigger guns.<\/p>\n
Someone like Iwan Fals.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/what-we-do-not-need-iwan-fals-and-cigarettes-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }