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Asia Pacific mayors forge powerful alliance to end tobacco use
The Health Ministry proposed the amendment of the regulation in May 2021, only to stir a conflict with several other ministries.
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Supporting hand: Workers make hand-rolled cigarettes on Sept. 2 at an unidentified factory in Kudus, Central Java. The factory’s workers are among the recipients of the government’s direct-cash assistance, which provides Rp 300,000 (US$19.22) per month per household. (Antara/Yusuf Nugroho)
“Tobacco use has become the second [greatest] risk factor for untimely death in Indonesia,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin asserted when opening the 7th Summit of Asia Pacific Mayors (APCAT) in Sanur, Bali, last week.
For decades, tobacco use has been the No.1 public-health enemy in Indonesia and the rest of Asia Pacific, home to 600 million smokers. Tobacco use kills over 8.67 million people every year globally, 2.3 million of them in Asia Pacific countries.
The active smoker population in Indonesia amounts to 70 million, which means Indonesia has one of the highest rates of active smokers in the Asia Pacific. The country is now facing a grave tobacco epidemic, contributing to preventable disease burdens of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and stroke. More than 225,700 people die every year from tobacco-related diseases here.
“To reduce tobacco use and exposure, especially in the youth population, we plan to revise the national law to include expansion of pictorial-health warnings, advertising restriction and e-cigarette restriction,” Budi said.
But, revising legislation or regulation on tobacco control is always beyond complex. The country has enforced Health Law No. 36/2009 and Government Regulation (PP) No. 109/2012 on tobacco control, but many believe they are toothless when facing Big Tobacco.
Experts have suggested that the government regulation be overhauled to include a ban on cigarette advertising (outdoor, indoor and social-media platforms), expansion of pictorial-health warnings and, more importantly, control of the use of novel tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and smokeless or heated-tobacco products.
The Health Ministry proposed the amendment of the regulation in May 2021, only to stir a conflict with several other ministries. The plan has renewed the fierce tug-of-war between public health and the economy.
