Indonesia: Government Slammed for Slow Action on Tobacco Use

Source from:  Jakarta Globe  11/21/2012

The slow progress of the tobacco impact control bill has caught the attention of the international community, which is calling on the government to immediately finalize the long-delayed and much-needed regulation.

The regulation's long delay demonstrates the government's weak commitment to protect its own people, according to the tobacco control division of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

"Health Law No.36 clearly stipulates no smoking zones and graphic warnings. But the RPP [tobacco impact control regulation] is still not passed although the cabinet has approved the content. Why is that? Is this the work of the cigarette industry? Or is the Indonesian government reluctant to protect its own people?" asked Tara Singh Bam, technical adviser on tobacco control with the international public health nonprofit on Monday.

Tara said that the Health Ministry already has the will and commitment to draft the RPP. She appreciated Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi's move to publicize the 2011 Global Adult Tobacco Survey report, which listed Indonesia as the country with the second highest number of male smokers.

"The Indonesian health minister admitted the country's failure to protect its people and that was a very strong political statement. But how come the RPP is still not signed?" he asked.

"We have failed in protecting our people," Nafsiah said at the time, commenting on the rate of male smokers jumping from 53 percent in 1995 to 67 percent at the time of the survey. "We have been defeated by the tobacco industry ... we don't want this, we cannot accept this because our job is to protect people from cigarettes."

The survey also found a high rate of Indonesians were subjected to second-hand smoke at work, at home and in public places.

Tara lamented the government's slow action in overcoming the smoking problem given the country's strong position in the G20. She said that Indonesia could influence the global situation with its actions, including in tackling the smoking problem.

"World Health Organization [data] showed that there are 200,000 cigarette-related deaths in Indonesia each year and that's the same as Indonesia being hit by a tsunami every year."

He added that the cigarette industry is taking advantage of the government's weak political commitment. They consider Indonesia as the last stop for cigarette investment.

The cigarette industry patronized the Indonesian government with the recent World Tobacco Expo in Jakarta, with a website promoting the expo that described Indonesia as a country with no cigarette regulation, she said.

"Indonesia is considered as a cigarette-friendly country. It's like the cigarette industry patronizing the democracy in Indonesia."

The RPP, Tara said, is not the ideal solution for tackling Indonesia's smoking problem as it doesn't include a ban on cigarette advertisements and sponsorships from cigarette companies. But, she added, it would still be sufficient if it was implemented accordingly.

"It's still not in line with the principle of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control but it could still work provided that it's implemented immediately and without further delay,' he said.

Tara added that she had received information that a certain ministry intentionally delayed the legislation of the RPP by trying to draft the bill from scratch again.

Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the director general of disease control and environmental health at the Health Ministry, said he was still optimistic that the bill could be passed into law and implemented soon.

"I still have hope and I prefer to think positively, because the draft is already finalized and it's reportedly being debated at the Finance Ministry," he said. Tjandra said that the Health Ministry will continue to push for the RPP to be passed into law immediately because the regulation was mandated in the 2009 health law.

Ironically, Indonesia is the only country in the Asia Pacific that hasn't ratified the FCTC despite the fact that it was one of the countries that drafted the convention. Enditem