Bandung Students Menaced by Widespread Tobacco Ads

Source from:  Jakarta Post 07/08/2015

A recent joint survey conducted by academics and antismoking activists in Bandung has found that students in the West Java capital city are prone to being exposed to cigarette advertisements, which have been widely placed near schools.

A team of researchers from the Bandung Islamic University's (Unisba) School of Communications, the Children's Media Development Foundation (YPMA) and the Bandung Free Tobacco (BRB) community said their recent joint research had found that tobacco advertisements could be found easily in areas near schools.

"We have monitored 64 schools in five districts in Bandung and found that 94 percent of the schools have shops nearby that put up cigarette advertisements. Meanwhile, outdoor billboards were found placed at 22 percent of schools being monitored," Unisba's Rita Gani said in a press conference over the weekend.

Among the forms of cigarette advertisements, according to Rita, were on-site cigarette branding and cigarette price promotions.

As proof, Rita presented photographs taken by her team. In one of the photographs, a kiosk was seen with a banner advertising a price of Rp 2,500 (18 US cents) for two cigarettes. The stall is located next to the entrance to a junior high school in South Bandung.

Rita also mentioned that two other schools on Jl. Brig. Gen. Katamso had been besieged by at least eight stalls and shops selling cigarettes.

"The shops are located close to each other," she said.

Another team member, Santi Indra Astuti, said the presence of cigarette advertising in areas near schools could endanger students and other children, as they would be drawn to creative images on advertisements and billboards.

"Despite a picture of a cigarette or a person smoking, images in the cigarette ads are more enticing," she said.

Similar surveys were carried out at hundreds of schools in four other cities - Jakarta, Makassar, Mataram and Padang. The surveys were conducted between January and May this year.

Various studies have shown that every year, 200,000 people in Indonesia die of smoking-related illnesses. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Indonesia Report 2011 said 40 percent of 13- to 15-year-old adolescents in Indonesia were smokers, up from 20.3 percent in 2010 and 7.1 percent in 1995.

Bandung Health Agency head Ahyani Raksanegara hailed the survey, saying that it would help relevant agencies to formulate policies to curb the impact of massive tobacco promotion to children.

"The agency has no authority to regulate tobacco advertising and education affairs although we have to deal with the [health] impacts from smoking habits. Thus, the survey can serve as an important reference [for local administrations] to design a joint effort to deal with the problem," she said. Enditem