Government shies away from anti-smoking drive

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)