TheJakartaPost
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Children plead for protection from tobacco
A group of children staged a demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Friday, calling on President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo to protect them and their fellow Indonesian children from tobacco
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group of children stageda demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Friday, calling on President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo toprotect them and their fellow Indonesian children from tobacco. The youngprotesters also urged the government to respect the Framework Convention onTobacco Control (FCTC), which the country has yet to sign.
'Although Indonesia has not signed the framework convention, the government has to protect the people by drafting regulations to guarantee the good health of Indonesian children,' Yuki Wirabagja, a spokesman for the group, which calls itself the Smoke-Free Agents, told tempo.co on Friday.
Elysabeth Ongkojoyo, a mother, recently started a petition after she and her year-old baby were forced to leave a food shop in a shopping mall in North Jakarta because a man was smoking inside. The petition garnered an enthusiastic public response, forcing the mall management to enact a smoking ban in many parts of the mall.
According to Yuki, the antitobacco movement counts among its numbers many children's groups, including Smoke- Free Agents, the Jabodetabek Children's Forum, the FCTC Youth Movement, Goodlife Society and the community Komunitas Remaja Pena Anak Kreatif (Young Writers' Community).
Existing regulations, she said, were unable to protect children from tobacco smoke, despite health laws indicating the adverse affects on human health of tobacco.
'The facts show that it is very easy for children to get their hands on tobacco. They can buy cigarettes in any shop, at any time,' she said, adding that widespread unchecked tobacco advertising also encouraged young people to take up smoking. (bbn)
