Cigarette TV commercials
Cigarette TV commercials
From Kompas
There are now quite a few TV commercials advertising various cigarette brands: Djarum Super on ANteve; Bentoel Mild and Sampoerna Hijau on Indosiar; Djarum Super, Djarum Coklat, Djarum Filter, Ardath and Pall Mall on RCTI; Gudang Garam, Djarum Coklat, Lucky Strike, Bentoel Mild, Pall Mall, Marlboro and Wismilak on SCTV; and A King, Jarum Super, Ardath and Djie Sam Soe on TPI.
Tulus Abadi, coordinator of the cigarette advertisement monitoring team at the Indonesian Consumers Foundation, said in Kompas in May 2000 that Government Regulation No. 81/1999 reduces the space to be allotted to cigarette advertising in the print media and prohibits the appearance of cigarette advertising in the electronic media. Despite this government regulation, our television stations continue to air commercials for cigarettes. It shows law enforcement and compliance with the law in our society are still lacking.
Everybody knows that cigarettes are harmful to human health. As reported in Kompas recently, Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the chairman of the central board of the Indonesian Association of Pulmonary Doctors (PPDI), said a cigarette contains 4,000 hazardous chemicals which may cause the incidence of 26 diseases attacking the lungs, heart, veins, respiratory organs and stomach, including cancer. Another disadvantage of cigarettes is impotence in men, while women will face early signs of aging and reproductive health trouble.
It is now time for the health ministry and Commission VII of the House of Representatives, which deals with health and population affairs, to take steps against the appearance of cigarette commercials on TV. An increasing number of TV commercials advertising cigarettes will render futile the efforts by community health organizations such as the Indonesian Heart Foundation, the Indonesian Cancer Foundation and PDPI to reduce the number of smokers.
There is reason enough to be alarmed by the number of smokers in Indonesia, which Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama says is the fourth highest figure in the world.
YUSUF M.
Jombang, East Java