Antismoking website launched
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Ministry of National Education and the World Health Organization (WHO), launched a website on Monday for school students as part of a campaign for the free tobacco movement.
"With the website, it is expected that students can communicate (with their peers), obtain facts, information and education on everything related to smoking," head of the national education ministry's research and development division Boediono said.
Boediono also said that students were expected to invite friends and family members to use the websites to find facts about the risks and dangers of smoking.
The newly launched websites are http://www.bebasrokok.com and its English version, http://www.ash-free.com.
Designed by PT Dhaft Buana Informatika and funded by WHO, the website would later be managed by the national education ministry.
In the website, browsers could find articles among others, on why people smoke, the effect of smoking on health, and types of poisons inside a cigarette. Website visitors could also join in a discussion forum.
Boediono claimed that the antismoking campaign would be effective if it was targeted toward students who had not started to smoke yet or who were curious about it.
"... I receive reports that smoking begins mostly among school students, either at junior high or senior high school. Therefore our website is designed for their age group with humorous logos and simple language so that they are easily able to assimilate the information," Boediono remarked.
Data from WHO showed that in 2000, around 1.1 billion people or one third of the world population, above the age of 15, were smokers.
The number of Indonesian smokers is believed to have reached 141 million.
The government has named schools nonsmoking areas.
A government-endorsed smoke-free advocacy group is launching a nationwide campaign to persuade companies to declare a smoke-free environment in connection with the World No Tobacco Day which fell on May 31. (emf)