Kamis, 16 Juni 2016

INDONESIA YET TO ACCEDE TO TOBACCO CONTROL CONVENTION


by Andi Abdussalam
          Jakarta, June 16 (Antara) - The pros and cons behind Indonesia acceding to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) have long been speculated, and the government's indecisive stand has placed it in a difficult position.
         Various circles from the health sector and the younger generation have, so far, called on the government to ratify the FCTC treaty, which had been circulated by the WHO since May 21, 2003, in an effort to curb tobacco consumption.
         However, the government has yet to accede to the convention as over six million people earn a livelihood as workers in tobacco industries or as tobacco farmers. Tobacco also contributes trillions of rupiah in taxes to the state
    The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Youth Movement (GM-FCTC) has questioned the government's reluctance to accede to the convention amid increasing number of young smokers.

         The GM-FCTC viewed the government's hesitance to ratify the convention as odd, especially during a time when 180 countries in the world, realizing the importance of controlling tobacco consumption, have acceded to the FCTC.
         "It is ironical for Indonesia, as one of the initiator countries of the FCTC, to have not yet affirmed its commitment to controlling tobacco consumption by acceding to the FCTC," Margianta Surahman, a spokesman of the GM-FCTC, noted in a press statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

 
          Margianta, popularly known as Gian, stated that tobacco control youth activists across the nation have supported President Joko Widodo's stand to accede to the convention. Moreover, the number of young smokers in the country has continued to increase.
         Indonesian Minister of Empowerment of Women and Child Protection Yohana Yambise has expressed concern over the increasing number of children taking to smoking in the country.
         "A total of 54 percent of Indonesian children are now smokers," she noted after a limited cabinet meeting on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control led by President Widodo in Jakarta on Tuesday (June 14).
         The minister has vowed to wean away children and women from smoking as it could cause lung cancer, miscarriage, cervical cancer, and heart problems.
         The minister urged to put in place a special rule to save people, especially women and children, from the harmful effects of cigarette smoking.
         "We already have Presidential Regulation No. 109 of 2012 in place that bans children from smoking, but shops still sell cigarettes to them. A stricter regulation is needed. In other countries, cigarettes can only be sold at shopping malls," she stated.
         Therefore, the GM-FCTC has called on President Widodo to protect children from the dangers of cigarette smoking. 
    "The nation's key interest is to protect the Indonesian people; hence in this case, safeguarding children from the dangers of cigarette smoking must be given priority," Gian affirmed.

         Gian reiterated that the accession to the FCTC is a commitment made by the government of a country to protect the future of its healthier and more productive population.
         According to Gian, the accession to the FCTC has the ultimate goal of serving the nation's interests, not only in terms of protecting the people's health but also driving economic growth.
        "Therefore, we, the younger generation of Indonesia, are still waiting for President Jokowi, as the vanguard for the protection of people, to take part and make a commitment to undertake efforts to curb the use of tobacco," he emphasized.
        Two years ago, controversies on the plan to accede to the convention also arose between health supporters and those coming from the tobacco industries and farmers.
         A legislator from the Nation's Awakening Party Faction (FPKB) in the House of Representatives (DPR) at that time rejected the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, as it would be seen as a disadvantage to many people, since tobacco contributes to the welfare of workers in the tobacco industry.
         "Tobacco is a big income source in Indonesia. You can imagine, there are about 6.1 million people working in the tobacco industries. Ratifying the convention will kill them," Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri, the then FPKB secretary, said during a discussion at the Parliament building.
          Admittedly, cigarettes contribute big taxes to the state. In 2012 and 2013, for example, the country received at least Rp84 trillion and Rp85 trillion, respectively, in tobacco taxes. The figures rose to Rp112.5 trillion and Rp139.5 trillion respectively in 2014 and 2015.
         In 2010, tobacco taxes were worth Rp63 trillion and drastically rose over 100 percent to Rp139.5 trillion in 2015. This is about eight percent of the revenues in the 2015 state budget.
         So, from an economic point of view, tobacco is a source of revenue for the state and income for millions of people, which is why the government has not yet ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco.
         Moreover, more than six million people working in the tobacco industries and farmers earn their living in the tobacco sector.
         President Jokowi said he would consider the fate and survival of tobacco workers and farmers before deciding to accede to the convention and sign the FCTC treaty.
         According to Jokowi, based on the WHO data up July 2013, a total of 180 countries have ratified and acceded to the FCTC, representing 90 percent of the world population.
         With regard to accession to the FCTC, the president said Indonesia was not willing to merely follow the trend, but it should really take into account the nation's interests, particularly with regard to the health of citizens to safeguard the younger generations in future.
         He said that Indonesia needed to think of the interest of the often forgotten parties, namely the survival of tobacco farmers and workers who earn a living in tobacco industries.
         "This is not a small case. It concerns a lot of people. We have to consider all aspects,"  the president said.
         In order to discourage smokers, the government banned smoking in public locations. It has also issued Regulation No. 109, 2012, which bans the sale of cigarettes to young people below 18 years old.
         Besides that, beginning June, 2014, cigarette packets were required to carry pictorial warnings with gruesome images of people suffering from different tobacco-related diseases such as oral, gangrene, mouth, neck and lung cancers.***4*** (A014/INE)
EDITED BY INET.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 16-06-2016 15:43

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