Majority of RI population are active smokers: Expert
Majority of RI population are active smokers: Expert
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
About 70 percent of Indonesia's population of 215 million people
are active smokers, a cardiologist says.
Adnil Basha, a cardiologist working with the National
Cardiovascular Center at Harapan Kita Hospital, said on Saturday
that smoking in Indonesia doubled from the 1970s through the
1990s, making it the fourth largest cigarette consumer after the
United States, China and Japan.
Abnil said that at least 60 percent of active smokers were
poor people who had difficulty meeting their daily basic needs.
"This shows that smoking has become a national issue in
Indonesia because it is not only a health issue but also an
economic one," Abnil said at the opening ceremony of the Klinik
Stop Merokok (Quit Smoking Clinic) at the Harapan Kita Hospital
in West Jakarta.
The clinic, which will offer free services in the first month
of its operation, was opened in conjunction with the World No
Tobacco Day on May 31.
Adnil said the number of young female smokers aged between 15
and 18 had also increased to account for 20 percent of total
youths in the age bracket.
He said the average Indonesian started smoking at the age of
10, with youths aged between 15 and 19 years old accounting for
59.6 percent of active smokers in the country.
The number of smokers among females aged 30 years old or above
accounts for 30 percent of female smokers, said Adnil, adding
that at least 28.3 percent of smokers coming from low-income
Indonesians spend 15.6 percent of their monthly income on
cigarettes.
Meanwhile, chairwoman of the Indonesian Heart Foundation
(YJI), Firda Nerri A. Sani, said most people spent about 9.6
percent of their budget on cigarettes each month.
A cigarette has about 4,000 ingredients, 200 of them dangerous
to health including tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide.
At least 57,000 people died of smoking-related diseases in
2001 alone, compared to four million people globally.
"It means about 11,000 people die every day in the world
because of smoking, or one person every eight seconds," said
Laksmiati A. Hanafiah, one of the YJI chairpersons.
"Labels saying a product is low in tar or nicotine, mild or
even light make no difference when it comes to smoking-related
diseases," director of the National Cardiovascular Center Aulia
Sani said.
"We expect the clinic to reduce the number of active smokers
in the country by 1 percent every year to achieve a healthy
Indonesia in 2010," said Firda.
During the month of June, services at the clinic will be free
of charge.
Earlier, health minister Achmad Sujudi said that the
government would soon draft a bill on tobacco control as the
country, together with 191 other members of the World Health
Organization (WHO), had adopted the Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The convention requires member countries to impose
restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion,
establish new labeling, as well as clean indoor air controls and
strengthen legislation to clamp down on tobacco smuggling.
"Indonesia will soon ratify the convention and soon after that
prepare a bill on tobacco control," Sujudi said.
The bill, he said, would be focused on limiting tobacco
advertising, sponsorship and promotion. "Advertisements that
violate the law may be banned," he said.