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Tobacco winning war against antismoking campaign in Indonesia
Indonesia is one of the few countries in the world yet to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that stipulates for strict limits on tobacco advertising, sponsorship, production, sales, distribution and taxation to protect people from the dangers of smoking.
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Say no to tobacco: The World Health Organization (WHO) and its global partners celebrate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) every May 31. This year’s campaign focuses on tobacco and lung health.
(Courtesy of WHO/-)
I
ndonesia is not only among the countries with the highest rate of smoking in the world, but projections by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that its people are likely to become more and more addicted to cigarettes despite increasingly aggressive campaigns warning of the health hazards.
Around 36 percent of Indonesians smoke. But those who light up on a daily basis will grow from 66 percent of all smokers in 2015 to 73 percent in 2020, and 79 percent in 2025. If these projections hold true, they indicate that the majority of smokers are nowhere near kicking the habit.
There seems to be no stopping them. Apparently the slew of warnings have not had any impact, including the threat of tuberculosis (TB) that haunts all smokers, past and present.
“Various studies prove that the smoke from cigarettes triggers TB,” Erlang Samoedro, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Association of Lung Doctors, told a seminar on Tuesday in connection with World No Tobacco Day, which fell on May 31.
“Smoking has increased TB cases by 18 million worldwide and will cause the deaths [directly and indirectly] of up to 40 million between 2010 and 2050,” Erlang said.
Indonesia defies the global trend where decreasing numbers of smokers has become the norm thanks to aggressive antismoking campaigns aided by government organizations.
Indonesia ranks third in terms of TB-related deaths after India and China. The WHO’s 2018 Report on Global TB shows that Indonesia had 842,000 TB cases, including 107,000 fatalities.
