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City high schools declare war on smoking
Jakarta high school communities will form the front line of anti- smoking campaigns, following a declaration to clear school grounds of cigarette smoke
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Jakarta high school communities will form the front line of anti- smoking campaigns, following a declaration to clear school grounds of cigarette smoke.
Principals from 116 states, 62 vocational and 16 Islamic high schools signed the declaration Thursday to protect every member of school communities from exposure to cigarette smoke on school grounds.
Huzna Zahir, head of the Indonesian Consumer’s Organisation (YLKI), said that all members of school communities — teachers, employees, students, parents and guests — must make an active effort if they are to free schools from cigarette smoke.
“Not only by putting up no-smoking banners and stickers, but by building understanding of
the dangers of smoking,” Huzna said on the sidelines of a workshop for high school principals on the enforcement of no-smoking areas (KDM) areas.
The measure is based on a 2005 gubernatorial decree on smoking in seven places: Health facilities, religious buildings, schools and campuses, childrens playground, on public transportation and in public areas and work places.
Three years have passed since the decree but many schools still see their teachers and parents puffing away on school grounds. Some schools, however, have fared better than the others.
A high school in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta fines anybody caught smoking in the school Rp 50,000 (US$4.5).
“Its a small sum but its effective,” Ferdinand, principal of the school, said. A survey conducted by the Indonesian Association of Health showed that 83.5 percent of 13-to-15- year-olds in Jakarta are directly exposed to cigarette smoke.
Handoyo Wiyoto, vice principal of SMA 73 high school in North Jakarta, said that the past two years have seen a gradual change in smoking habits. “In the teachers room where smokers usually spend their time, the heavy smokers have stopped smoking,” he said.
He said this could be attributed to campaigns from several organizations and persuasive approaches from colleagues.
He said SMA 73 gives students caught smoking study tasks which they have to do in a special room.
In July 2008 the Indonesian Smoking Control Foundation (LM3), YLKI, the Coalition for a Healthy Indonesia (KUIS) and the Urban Residents Forum (FAKTA) filed a legal standing against the government to ratify the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), which has been ratified by 162 countries.
Wednesday saw the coalition loose its 25th battle in the case.
YLKI data shows that the country spent Rp 180 trillion on health care for smoking-related illness in 2005, 5.1 times the amount of state income generated from cigarette tax. (iwp)
