Stop tobacco use among minors, experts say

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 09/05/2006 7:04 AM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Health experts say the government must act firmly to prevent cigarette sales to children, with a worrying trend for minors to start using tobacco products at a younger age.

Tb. Rachmat Sentika, an executive of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association, said none of the regulations on child protection specifically addressed the issue.

""There are no regulations banning kids from smoking and buying tobacco products, nor ones that provide sanctions to those who sell or give tobacco products to children,"" he was reported as telling a seminar Monday by Antara newswire.

The only relevant regulation, he added, was from the 2002 Child Protection Law, which stated minors must be protected from addictive substances.

Research in the past 30 years shows a sharp drop in the average age at which Indonesians first start smoking. A 1978 study by Padjadjaran University (Unpad) in Bandung found it was 12. A study by Surabaya's Airlangga University 11 years later said it was 8.

But the latest research done in 2005 by Unpad, Padang's Andalas University and Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University showed the average age was down to 7.

""It happens because access to cigarettes is getting easier. And the risk of cigarette exposure for children continues to increase, especially now when cigarette producers are really aggressive (in promotion) and with adult smokers around them increasing in number,"" Rachmat Sentika said.

Experts say Indonesia should follow the example of its neighbors. Starting in June this year, Thailand banned sales of tobacco products at all educational and religous institutions.

Meanwhile, legislator Hakim Sorimuda Pohan from House Commission IX on population, health and manpower said it was working to include the bill on the control of the impact of tobacco products in the 2007 national legislative agenda.

Aside from regulating production and sales, packaging and labeling, smoke-free areas, promotion as well as monitoring tobacco products, the bill also contains articles which directly protect children.

The articles ban tobacco product sales to anyone under 18, as well as prohibiting children from selling or buying tobacco products.

The chairman of the Indonesian Cigarette Producers Association, Ismanu Kusmiran, said producers intended to use a label stating sales were restricted to people aged above 18 on tobacco product packaging.

But chief of the National Commission on Children Protection, Seto Mulyadi, said labeling would actually lead to more minors lighting up.

""Such an 'adult only' message will make tobacco products more appealing to children and teenagers. They will be lured to try smoking to make them look more mature.

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