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Govt urged to ban cigarette ads
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 06/01/2008 10:44 AM | Headlines
QUIT!: Activists from the National Commission for the Protection of Children's Rights stage a rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Saturday, marking World No Tobacco Day which falls on May 31. The Commission has engaged in series campaigns to stop the sale of cigarettes to young people. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)Dozens of youths demonstrated at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Saturday, urging the government to impose bans on tobacco advertising, promotions and sponsorship.
They said cigarette companies should not be allowed to sponsor sport, music or educational events.
"Tobacco companies sponsor many events which are close to young people, like music concerts and sport matches. At concerts, they even hand out free packets of cigarettes to us. This is absolutely unacceptable," one of the demonstrators, Drucella 'Cella' Benala Dyahati, told The Jakarta Post.
"It's hidden promotion and we should all put a stop to it. These events shouldn't be contaminated with tobacco. Sport and music event organizers can try to find non-tobacco sponsors, like energy drinks," the 17-year-old girl said.
The rally was organized by the National Commission for Child Protection, in conjunction with World No Tobacco Day, which falls every May 31.
This year's campaign is focussed on enacting global bans on tobacco advertising.
Since 2003, 154 countries including Malaysia and Singapore have signed the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The 13th article of the framework states that each signatory shall apply restrictions on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships, but Indonesia has yet to sign.
In observance of the day, the commission gathered some 50 young people, including students, child workers and street children from the Greater Jakarta area, for a three-day tobacco-free youth forum.
At the forum, the participants were given the opportunity to observe the spread of tobacco in three areas in the capital -- Cikini in Central Jakarta and Senayan and Manggarai in South Jakarta.
"Based on their observations, they found many tobacco ads on the streets. The distance between billboards containing cigarette ads is only between 10 and 30 meters. This is so sad because the ads can shape the future behavior of our children. Tobacco will only bring them sorrow," the commission's program manager, Lisda Sundari, said.
A former smoker, Wahyu Rozi, 17, said cigarettes almost killed him last year.
"I started smoking three years ago. I used to get cigarettes from my friends. I enjoyed smoking until I got a bad cough last year and doctor diagnosed me with lung disease," he said.
"I lost weight, from 50 to only 27 kilograms, and had to stay in bed for months. That was the worst year of my life. I will never touch cigarettes again," he said.
His father and friends also had cut down on their smoking habits after discovering his illness.
Wahyu also demanded the government immediately ban all cigarette advertising on streets.
"The ban will hopefully divert people's attention from tobacco," he said.
According to the WHO, most people start smoking before the age of 18, and almost one quarter of these try tobacco for the first time before the age of 10.
Tobacco companies market their products wherever young people can be accessed easily -- at the movies, online, in fashion magazines and at music and sport venues.
In a WHO study on 13 to 15-year-old school children worldwide, more than 55 percent of students reported seeing cigarette billboard advertisements in the previous month, and 20 percent owned an item with a logo of a cigarette brand on it. (trw)
Rafiq Mahmood, Bogor (not verified) — Mon, 06/02/2008 - 1:39pm
am delighted that the young people have taken to the streets on this life-and-death issue. But it shouldn't be just for one day. There needs to be a concerted pressure until this evil is removed from our streets.
This is a real menace which must be abolished. Since the police don't seem to care about enforcing the law (children on overcrowded motorbikes, for example) I would suggest that unless the government impose a ban in the very near future - lets give them three months - we rip down these posters and signboards and (safely) cut off their electricity supply.
Although grafitti is not usually a good thing - making our streets ugly - there is nothing more ugly than the sight of these deadly products being promoted to our youth. It is easy to show what the messages really mean and we should make it clear. The poster for Black "Slimz" and a row of exclamation marks really means Bleak Stifz and a row of coffins. "Winners wanted" really means "Losers" to replace the young people who have coughed their last. The pictures of handsome young men climbing mountains and sitting with tigers should be replaced with the same young men falling into lakes of tar and being mauled by the nicotine tigers which causes amputation through peripheral vasular disease.
Am I advocating breaking the law? If religious leaders can get away with saying that if the government didn't disband Ahmadiyya they would take the law into their own evil hands why should I not say the same for an entirely beneficial purpose?