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Omnibus health bill has lax tobacco rules, say activists
Health activists are unhappy with the proposed tobacco rules in the omnibus bill on health, saying it failed to provide stricter tobacco controls for the country.
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Smokescreen: A volunteer talks to a minimarket cashier about the dangers of cigarettes during a campaign against child smokers in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, on March 7, 2021. (Antara/Muhammad Iqbal)
Health activists are unhappy with the proposed tobacco rules in the omnibus bill on health because it fails to provide stricter tobacco control for the country.
Iman Mahaputra Zein, coordinator for the tobacco control campaign at the Center for Indonesia Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI), said tobacco control regulations in the new health bill, currently being deliberated at the House of Representatives, remained relatively lax.
"For example, the new health bill has failed to ban the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products. It also stipulates a special rule for the distribution of tobacco products used for medical treatments, cosmetics and aromatherapy. We fear that this bill will be abused by the tobacco industry," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Indonesia is the only country in the Southeast Asia region that still allows cigarette advertising in television and printed media. According to the World Health Organization, in 2021 some 144 countries in the world had totally banned the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products in mass media and at point-of-sale.
Antitobacco proponents have blamed the lax regulation in cigarette advertising as the main contributor to the increasing number of child smokers in the country.
In 2016 the prevalence of cigarette smokers under the age of 18 was 8.8 percent. The rate increased to 9.1 in 2018 and to 10.7 in 2019. Statistics Indonesia predicts that this figure could reach 16 percent by 2030 if the government does not implement a serious intervention to reduce tobacco consumption.
A 2022 study by the Indonesia Institute for Social Development (IISD) and the Muhammadiyah Student Association (IPM) revealed that 93.6 percent of Indonesian students were exposed to cigarette advertisements and 71 percent of student smokers said that tobacco ads inspired them to try smoking.
