Role models needed to curb smokers

Role models needed to curb smokers

Sari P. Setiogi and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta

The government hopes that nonsmoking, informal leaders, including
Muslim clerics, will set a good example to the public, as the old
methods have been proven less effective in curbing the number of
smokers in the country.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said the influence of clerics
would motivate their followers and the general public to refrain
from smoking or quit altogether.

"It is also hoped that clerics will help their students and
followers understand the impact of smoking and create a smoke-
free environment," Sujudi said.

In observance of World No Tobacco Day this year, which falls
on May 31, the ministry awarded the Langitan Muslim boarding
school in Tuban, East Java, for its persistent efforts to create
a smoke-free school.

It has also established regulations to uphold the policy.
Punishment ranges from scalp shaving to a fine in the form of a
sack of cement, which must be bought and donated to the school.

The school has implemented the nonsmoking policy since 1987.

Islamic boarding schools exist throughout the country, but
only a few are smoke-free.

The same situation also exists in government and local
government offices, as not all have been declared nonsmoking
areas due to the absence of bylaws to implement antitobacco
regulations, said Sujudi.

The legislation and regulations that did relate to the
country's antismoking campaign were relatively weak, he said,
including the low tax imposed on tobacco and low retail price of
cigarettes.

For years, the government has been urged to increase the tax
on tobacco to bring down the number of smokers in the country,
particularly the poor.

"By increasing the tax, the government would receive more
income that could be used to fund public health care programs,
particularly for those who suffer from illnesses resulting from
tobacco use," said Sujudi.

The minister said the greater the tax on tobacco the less poor
people would buy cigarettes, and more would quit smoking.

This year's No Tobacco Day commemoration is themed "Tobacco
and Poverty".

World Bank data shows that tax on tobacco here accounts for
about 31 percent of the price of a pack of cigarettes,
contributing some Rp 30 trillion (US$3.2 billion) to the state's
coffers. That makes Indonesia's the second-lowest tobacco tax
after Cambodia's.

The price of cigarettes here is also considered among the
lowest in the region. A pack of 20 cigarettes costs about Rp
4,800 (US 52 cents) in Indonesia, much less than the US$3.08 in
Singapore.

Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) chairman Farid Anfasa
Moeloek said although the government could generate Rp 30
trillion from tobacco tax, health and social problems caused by
smoking cost the government twice as much.

Separately, in observance of World No Tobacco Day, the
Indonesian Network of Women Against Tobacco (WITT) urged the
public on Monday to be more aware of the hazards of smoking.

It also urged the government to provide nonsmoking areas in
public spaces, to encourage women to play the main role in an
antismoking campaign within their families and to help smokers
who wish to quit the habit.

The activists would start their campaign on Sunday with a one-
day rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, in which they
would distribute free pamphlets and stickers that campaign
against smoking, said WITT chairwoman Nita Yudi.

Tobacco consumption in Indonesia during the period 1977 to
2000 increased sevenfold, from 33 billion to 187 billion
cigarettes.