National anti-tobacco drive to start with doctors

National anti-tobacco drive to start with doctors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Knowledge of the danger of a certain act does not necessarily
deter one from committing it, or so a recent survey indicates
when health professionals were asked about their smoking habits.

The survey shows that 16.5 percent of health professionals in
Jakarta are smokers.

The survey, conducted by the Agency for Smoking Control (LM3)
among 600 health professionals in Jakarta, also revealed that
13.5 percent of community health center (Puskesmas) officers were
also addicted to nicotine.

"Peer pressure made me start smoking in high school and it has
continued up to the present, so I am already addicted," said 26-
year old Taufik Indrawan, a doctor at a private clinic.

He admitted to being well aware that his health was at risk.
"It is a habit that's difficult to give up."

Despite the prevalence of smoking among health professionals
this year, the government has called on them to actively
participate in a national anti-tobacco campaign, which includes
setting an example by giving up on tobacco.

This year's anti-tobacco campaign theme is a copy of the World
Health Organization's campaign aimed at increasing the role of
health professionals in tobacco control.

"They have the opportunity to help people change their
behavior and give advice, guidance and answers to questions
related to the consequences of tobacco use," WHO acting
representative for Indonesia Frits de Haan explained during a
forum in Jakarta on Wednesday.

It is suggested WHO that professionals -- doctors, dentists,
nurses and pharmacists -- should routinely ask patients and
clients about their tobacco use and/or exposure. They should also
advise and guide them to quit smoking.

Health professional organizations are also urged to actively
support the government to sign, ratify and implement the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which Indonesia,
one of its drafters, has so far refused to sign despite mounting
pressure from health activists.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came
into force on Feb. 27, includes promotion of taxation as a means
of cutting down on consumption, aside from imposing restrictions
on smoking in public places, affixing larger, more visible health
warnings on cigarette packs and intensifying the fight against
smuggling.

The UN's health committee hopes that the anti-tobacco pact,
which 168 countries signed and 62 ratified, will help reduce the
devastating economic and health impacts of tobacco consumption,
the second leading cause of preventable deaths globally after
hypertension. Smoking is reportedly responsible for approximately
4.9 million deaths each year.

"Ratifying the FCTC must involve an inter-departmental
agreement and is a lot more complicated to achieve," Minister of
Health Siti Fadillah Supari said last week when asked why her
office failed push Indonesia to sign the pact.

The farthest that Indonesia has come so far in the anti-
tobacco campaign was a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in
tobacco excise taxes, which will be effective in July, and the
recent issuance of a decree by Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso to ban
smoking in public places.

The decree however has not yet been enforced effectively as
people in the capital can still freely smoke in public spaces,
including public transportation vehicles.

Even so, anti-tobacco activists have seen the city
administration's measure as a breakthrough, saying they would
award Sutiyoso on Thursday for issuing such a regulation to
support the anti-smoking campaign. (003)