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Anti-smoking campaign targets women, girls
Tobacco doesn’t discriminate by gender or age
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T
obacco doesn’t discriminate by gender or age. People who smoke cigarettes — men or women, young or old — will suffer the negative impacts.
This view was shared during the “No Tobacco Show”, a one-day event organized by the National Commission on Tobacco Control on Saturday in Kuningan, South Jakarta. The event drew 1,500 people from 22 schools in Greater Jakarta.
The event was set up to disseminate information to young people and women on the dangers of smoking ahead of World No Tobacco Day, which falls on May 31.
Committee chairwoman Laks-miati A. Hanafiah said the commission organized the event in response to the rise in the number of women and teenage smokers in Jakarta.
The latest data from the Central Statistics Agency show the prevalence of smoking among women
in Indonesia had tripled to 4.5 percent in 2004, with the highest increase among teenage girls aged 15 to 19. The number of teenage smokers has grown almost tenfold from 0.2 percent in 2001 to 1.9 percent in 2004.
Laksmiati said that this worrying trend was caused by ubiquitous cigarette advertising in media and public places that conveyed false information.
“All those ads are misleading. There is no safe limit for cigarettes. The only thing that is safe is to stop smoking,” Laksmiati said, referring to commercials offering cigarette products claiming to have lower amounts of nicotine.
She added the event would help people find the real message behind the advertisements.
At the event, students from different schools displayed their own anti-smoking campaigns to help get the real message across to the public.
A participants coming from state vocational high school SMKN 8 in Pejaten, South Jakarta, exhibited a ghost house to demonstrate the dangers of smoking.
Some of the students dressed up as ghosts with heavy mascara and pale makeup standing in front of a poster with information on cigarettes.
“We want to warn people that this is the result you meet when you smoke,” said 10th grader Leni Nuraini, who was dressed as an angel of death.
Laksmiati acknowledged the importance of involving the youth as well as women in the war against tobacco because they were the next target for cigarette companies.
The commission plans to hold a seminar to raise awareness among women to contribute to the war against tobacco, she added.
This commission believes personal initiatives from individuals were important for the success of the anti-tobacco movement, especially in light of the failure of the local government to enforce regulations prohibiting smoking in the capital.
The Jakarta administration introduced the first anti-smoking bylaw in 2005, but its implementation is seen as a failure. The bylaw required smoking areas to be separated from non-smoking areas.
The administration has tightened the rule since May 6 this year by banning smoking completely in buildings.
The public, as well as authorities, have questioned the effectiveness of this policy. Indonesia is the world’s third-largest tobacco consumer.
