Freedom of smoking

I would like to comment on Dr. Harun's letter (Feb. 5, 1997) and his ravaging attack against soking.

I grant that a cigarette is something with ash at one end and a silly although conscious suicide candidate at the opposite one, but I cannot stop from being perplexed about what Dr. Harun wrote and his negative attitude towards people's freedom of smoking.

When he looks for the worst scourge of modern day society, he shouldn't base himself only on medical reports. Obviously, they only take into account deaths due to sickness and famine. As a result of human indifference toward poor people, famine is more than a simple sickness. It would be better if Dr. Harun also looked at the reports of the UN Food Agricultural Organization or similar organizations. He could have a more complete picture of the matter.

I also believe Dr. Harun shouldn't get carried away by his enthusiasm in fighting smoking and he should be careful to make his writing credible. As a human being, I'll never believe that "heart surgeons in England refused to conduct heart surgery on patients that do not intend to quit smoking". I cannot imagine if Hippocrates is tossing and turning in his grave but, for sure, I can imagine the reaction of the surgeons in general, particularly those in England. Should Dr. Harun's statement be true, those surgeons should be stroked off the world medical registers.

Maybe Dr. Harun's anti-smoking crusade could even be considered a praiseworthy battle provided it was within acceptable and reasonable limits.

PIERO RONCI

Jakarta