WHO seeks tobacco sponsorship bans in RI<\/p>\n
Musthofid and Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The World No Tobacco Day celebration Friday seemed to have failed
\nto capture the imagination of Indonesians with the World Health
\nOrganization vowing to campaign against tobacco sponsorship.<\/p>\n
\"We expect that there should be no more tobacco sponsorship in
\n2003,\" Uton Muchtar, the WHO chief in charge of the Southeast
\nAsian region, said at a discussion.<\/p>\n
The discussion was held at the Gran Melia Hotel in conjunction
\nwith WHO's anti-tobacco campaign, whose 2002 theme is Tobacco
\nFree Sports with the slogan Play It Clean.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the Ministry of Health celebrated no smoking day with
\nrepresentatives from the WHO representatives to Indonesia, sports
\ncelebrities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) activists.<\/p>\n
But apart from the discussion and the celebration, there were
\nfew anti-smoking campaigns in government offices, media or other
\npublic places.<\/p>\n
This fact defies the serious problem in Indonesia which is the
\nfourth biggest tobacco consumer in the world after the United
\nStates, China and Japan. In 2000 alone, 199 billion individual
\ncigarettes have been sold.<\/p>\n
According to Minister of Health A. Sujudi, most Indonesian
\nsmokers were young people because around 44 percent of them
\nstarted smoking at the age of between 10 and 19 years old and 37
\npercent were those of between 20 and 29 years old.<\/p>\n
Uton, who comes from Indonesia, said the tobacco industry had
\npoisoned 141 million smokers in Indonesia or 70 percent of the
\ncountry's population, more than half of them were poor people.<\/p>\n
Celebrated body builder Ade Rai and tennis player Angelique
\nWidjaja along with actress Tracy Trinita are expected to promote
\nWHO's campaign among the national sports community.<\/p>\n
Uton likened the tobacco industry to a giant who has
\nbrainwashed the people for years that smoking is not a problem
\nand it can get along with sports.<\/p>\n
The industry has successfully built a positive corporate image
\nthrough sponsorship of sports, entertainment, cultural and
\ncommunity health events to lure youths, women and the poor.<\/p>\n
\"That industry reaps billion or even more rupiah from selling
\ncigarettes. Actually they only sell death and disease,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Internationally, Uton said, tobacco advertisements have
\ndrastically reduced as the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
\nand the ongoing World Cup in South Korea and Japan affirm.<\/p>\n
\"But it does not look as easy to do it in Indonesia. The
\nsports must be able to do away with sponsorships from tobacco
\ncompanies,\" Uton said.<\/p>\n
Many developing countries have started reducing their tobacco
\nconsumption up to 10 percent but Indonesia has increased its
\nconsumption to 44.1 percent during 1990-1997.<\/p>\n
Mawarwati Djamaludin, from the National Agency for Food and
\nDrugs Control, said she expected interference from the government
\nby regulating anti-tobacco sponsorship on sports.<\/p>\n
Merdias Almatsier from the National Committee on Tobacco
\nControl, called for the establishment of a regulation which would
\nallow the allotment of tobacco excise, whose amount is expected
\nto be Rp 22.3 trillion in 2003, for sporting events.<\/p>\n
\"It's an irony that the national health budget, which is
\naffected by cigarette consumption, is not assisted by the income
\nfrom the excise. Lets say it as a compensation,\" Merdias said.<\/p>",
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