Celebrities told to support antitobacco drive
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The latest survey on the smoking habits of high-school students should be a matter of concern to all: 42 percent of 2,047 students surveyed in Jakarta admitted to being active smokers, 43.9 percent said they had tried smoking and 13.6 percent said they had never tried it but would do so next year.
Regardless of the validity of the survey, smoking has long been a fundamental part of teenagers' lives here. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the number of smokers is increasing, especially among young people in developing countries.
To some extent, films and fashion, as the two areas of life of greatest interest to most teenagers around the globe, are believed to have fostered smoking as a lifestyle activity aspired to by juveniles.
"In films and fashion, smoking is perceived as a desirable lifestyle activity more than ever, which makes it attractive to teenagers," Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi told a media conference on an antitobacco campaign here on Monday.
On the upcoming No Tobacco Day on May 31, Indonesia has chosen Free Tobacco from Film and Fashion as a theme, which is expected to support the global theme Tobacco-Free Film and Tobacco-Free Fashion, Action!.
Chief representative of the WHO in Indonesia George Peterson said the UN body had urged the film and fashion industries to stop being vehicles of death and disease.
"Through the selection of this theme, the WHO is calling on the entertainment and fashion industries to stop promoting a deadly product and to recognize their social responsibility," he said.
Film and fashion stars are modern heroes, he said, and the way they spoke, ate and drank greatly influenced public behavior and preferences.
Another survey conducted by pulmonologist from Persahabatan Hospital, East Jakarta, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, showed that of 126 Indonesian celebrities, 38 percent of the men surveyed were active smokers, while the percentage for women reached 62 percent.
Some 100 of the celebrities contacted were TV series or film stars, while the rest were models, singers or TV presenters.
"The number of smoking women celebrities is very high when compared with the percentages in the family health survey carried out by the Ministry of Health," said Tjandra.
The latest family health survey, carried out every five years in several provinces in the country, with hundreds of thousands of respondents, revealed that only 4.83 percent of women were smokers. This means the proportion of celebrity women smokers is about 13 times higher than that of ordinary women.
Last week, 192 member countries of WHO adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which aims to secure agreement on restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion.
Indonesia was among the signatories. However, the issue might pose a dilemma here as the tobacco industry is still one of the largest national taxpayers, and also employs tens of thousands of Indonesian citizens.