RI to join global tobacco movement

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, the world's fifth-largest nation of smokers, has committed itself to joining a global movement to reduce the number of smokers in the world.

The movement will focus on drafting an international pact on tobacco control which is hoped to be adopted by the United Nations (UN) as a convention in 2003.

The convention will be an international legal instrument that will monitor the global spread of tobacco products and improve transnational tobacco control cooperation.

An official at the Drugs and Food Control Agency (POM) Mawarwati pointed out that Indonesia "faces a growing number of smokers, both male and female, along with a significant increase of young smokers."

World Health Organization (WHO) data from 1997 show that Indonesian smokers consume 168 billion cigarettes per year.

"We have government-issued regulations but the contents are not as comprehensive as what will be discussed in the international convention," Mawarwati said.

Indonesia will host a two-day consultation meeting between Southeast Asian members of the World Health Organization (WHO, on Thursday. Results of the meeting will be announced at an international meeting in Geneva in May.

According to 1997 WHO data, China is the largest nation of smokers with 1.67 trillion cigarettes consumed annually, followed by the United States with 480 billion and then Japan with 317 billion.(emf)