Government shies away from anti-smoking drive

JAKARTA (JP): The government has conceded that it has not been active in discouraging smoking in Indonesia because of the huge contribution made by the local tobacco industry to the country's employment and to state revenues.

A senior official of the Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the government was limiting its role to explaining the effects of smoking on health, rather than joining the anti- smoking campaign.

Dachroni, of the ministry's Center for Community Health Supervision, admitted that the government faces a dilemma regarding smoking.

On the one hand, it does not want to see people's health ruined by smoking. On the other, it does not wish to see millions of people losing their main source of income, which comes from the thriving tobacco industry.

"Nor does the government want to lose the revenue it receives from the excise duties on cigarettes, which is quite a large sum," Dachroni said.

He made the remarks at a seminar organized by Atma Jaya Catholic University, entitled "Healthy living without smoking." The seminar, held on the university's campus in Jakarta, was attended by nearly 200 participants, many of whom were high school and university students.

Dachroni said studies in the 1980s found that in Indonesia nearly 50 percent of male adults and up to 10 percent of female adults smoked.

The number of deaths caused by tobacco-related disease rose from between two and three percent, in 1980, to between three and four percent in 1986, he said.

Studies had also found that more and more Indonesian smokers were turning to kretek (clove) cigarettes, he said. In 1980, three smokers opted for kreteks for every one who preferred ordinary cigarettes. By 1986 the ratio had risen to eight-to-one, he said.

A World Health Organization study in 1985 revealed that 18 brands of kretek cigarettes contained an average of 58 mg of tar and 2.4 mg of nicotine, respectively the highest contents ever recorded worldwide.

Minister of Health Sujudi also referred last week to the dilemma with which Indonesia is confronted on the question of smoking. He told a seminar marking World No Tobacco Day on May 31 that some five million Indonesian families, or 20 million people, depended, directly or indirectly, on the tobacco and cigarette industries for their livelihood; taking into account retailing, transport, advertising and other sectors.

Last year, the government received Rp 220 billion ($100 million) in excise duties from the sale of cigarettes.

Dachroni said the health ministry, which is the only government department in whose offices smoking is not permitted, was currently conducting campaigns on "the relationship between smoking and health" which were aimed at certain groups, including children, teenagers and pregnant women.

Tjandra Yoga Aditama, a speaker from the University of Indonesia's School of Medicine and a member of the Indonesian Cancer Foundation, said that in order to stop smoking, a person had to know the disadvantages of smoking.

"There are at least 24 known diseases which are related to smoking. Heart disease and cancer, for instance, can be caused by smoking, but they need time to develop. Twenty years at least are needed before the impact of smoking on health can be felt," he said.

He said that to help people kick the habit, attention had to be given, not only to the physical impact of the practice, but also to the psychological and social aspects of smoking.

"Smoking has to do with habit and thus it is not only a health problem," he said.

Tjandra said that, although people could choose to stop smoking gradually, it was more difficult to reduce cigarette consumption to zero gradually as opposed to making a clean break.

He provided a few tips for people who wished to stop smoking.

"First of all you must choose a certain date on which you intend to quit once and for all. Tell other people about your plan so they can remind you about it," he said, adding that people should choose a "realistic" date.

"If you know you can't study without smoking, don't choose a date during or before your exams -- that won't help -- but don't put it off for too long. One or two months should be the most, otherwise you will never stop," he said.

Also present at the seminar were television and commercial artists Jeremy Thomas and Dafsah A.J., education expert Father J. Drost and radio broadcaster Debra Yatim, all of whom shared their personal experiences in dealing with smoking or with fellow smokers. (pwn)