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.