Indonesian smokers ranked 7th in world
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Almost 60 percent of Indonesia's population of 215 million are smokers, making it the seventh-largest smoking country in the world, an official told Antara.
Deputy Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Farid W. Husain said on Tuesday the latest data issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) Southeast Asia representative had prompted the government to step up its campaign to raise people's awareness of the hazards of tobacco.
Ministry of Health data shows that 57,000 people die of smoking-related diseases in the country every year. The world total stands at four million.
An estimated 1.1 billion people on earth are smokers, 800 million of whom live in developing countries, according to WHO.
Farid described the increase in the number of cigarette consumers in Indonesia as significant as it was ranked a low 19th 10 years ago.
He said the government had sought every avenue to curb the incidence of smoking, including the issuance of Government Regulation No. 38/2000, aimed at protecting people from the dangers of tobacco.
The regulation, which replaced Regulation No. 81/1999, bans any display of cigarette products for advertisement purposes. The ruling allows TV stations to air ads for tobacco products between 9.30 p.m. and 5 a.m.
It restricts the nicotine content to a maximum of 0.2 mg and the maximum tar content to 15 mg per cigarette. All cigarette products must bear a warning of the dangers of smoking to health.
Farid admitted that despite the intensifying campaign against tobacco, the government could not close down tobacco companies, which employ four million workers and contribute Rp 27 trillion to state revenues annually.
He said the government was considering a policy to encourage the tobacco industry to focus on exports instead of the domestic market and to persuade tobacco farmers to turn gradually to other crops. The government might also ask the Indonesian Ulemas Council to declare tobacco haram (forbidden under Islamic law).