Smoking costs a lot more than people think: Sujudi
Smoking costs a lot more than people think: Sujudi
JAKARTA (JP): Smoking costs far more than most people think,
the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.
"Smoking and tobacco have always been controversial," Minister
of Health Sujudi remarked on the World's No Tobacco Day. "But
considering that we do not only live in the present ... the costs
we will have to pay for the effects of smoking are larger than we
thought."
"This is what we would like to reflect on today," a statement
from Sujudi asserted at a one-day discussion on the economic
effects of smoking. The speech was read by the director general
of public health promotion, Nyoman Kumana Rai.
Some five million Indonesian families depend on the tobacco
and cigarette industries for their livelihood. In all, about 20
million people are either directly or indirectly dependent on the
tobacco industry, if retailing, transportation, advertising and
others sectors are considered, according to the Ministry of
Health.
Last year, the government received Rp 220 billion ($100
million) in excise taxes from cigarettes.
But Sujudi said the costs for medication and treatment, the
loss of productivity and jobs, the loss of income due to early
deaths and the loss of time in caring for ill family members,
outweigh the tangible economic benefits.
Smoking "reduces the quality of human resources" he added. "We
need a sufficient quality of human resources to increase our
competitiveness in the world market."
A representative from the World Health Organization, Alan D.
Lopez, warned of a potentially major public health catastrophe in
Indonesia unless something is done to curtail smoking.
He said there is a great misunderstanding about the dangers of
tobacco because it is not a major cause of death here.
Experience shows that there is a delay of up to three decades
"between the time a new generation of youths begin to smoke and
the full health effects of their smoking," Lopez said.
Noting that almost two-thirds of young Indonesian men smoke,
up to 13 million of the 25 million regular smokers in Indonesia
could die in middle age from smoking, he said.
The anti-smoking campaign in Indonesia has been very modest.
Only cinemas have succeeded in banning smoking. The Ministry of
Health is the only government agency where smoking is not
permitted. (anr)