Government told to protect nonsmokers
JAKARTA (JP): A health official proposed on Monday that the government slice at least 5 percent of tax revenues from cigarettes to promote protection for nonsmokers.
Ministry of Health's Director General for Food and Drug Control Sampurno told a media conference here that more funds were needed to promote good health, especially to protect people from the dangers of smoking, mainly because cigarette companies did little to cover the government's annual health expenditures related to smoking.
The government spends Rp 14.5 trillion (US$1.8 billion) a year to deal with diseases and other medical problems resulting from smoking. At the same time cigarette companies contribute Rp 10 trillion in excise taxes to the state each year.
"Health expenditures caused by cigarettes are 8.5 times larger than the annual budget for health," Sampurno said.
A recent national survey revealed that the country was home to 36 million male smokers, or 60 percent of the male population above the age of 10, and three million women smokers, or 4 percent of women above the age of 10.
The number showed a sharp increase of 44.1 percent over the past decade, making Indonesia one of the countries with a growing percentage of smokers.
The ministry data also show that national cigarette consumption within the past decade has risen from 2.7 percent of the world's total in 1990 to 4 percent in 1999.
"This is a very sad fact. In the United States and Japan, the growth of smokers is declining. In India, the growth is also negative," Sampurno said.
He blamed the aggressive promotion by cigarette companies for the sharp increase.
"They are particularly aggressive with young people. Some of the promotion is even unethical and immoral, for example by giving some Rp 300,000 (US$37.50) to teenagers who dare to strip their clothes," he said, pointing to a promotional act from an international cigarette producer.
The growth of teenage smokers is 17 percent, according to the survey. The prevalence of male teenage smokers is 12.8 percent to 28.8 percent, while girl smokers are 0.64 percent to 1 percent.
In the face of the implementation of regional autonomy next year, Sampurno called on regional governments to take initiatives in curbing the number of smokers by banning smoking in public places.
Sampurno was speaking at the press conference with the World Health Organization (WHO)'s envoy for antitobacco campaign, Alan Landers.
Landers, 57, is a former "Winston" cigarette commercial star who stop smoking after being diagnosed with lung cancer 12 years ago, and became WHO spokesperson since then.
WHO has warned that smoking-related illnesses are expected to kill 10 million people annually by 2030 if tobacco-free campaigns are unheeded.
Cigarettes already kill one out of 10 adults in the world, according to reports. (09)