Cool factor of non quitting cigarettes

Ninety-three percent of Indonesian children are exposed to cigarette ads on television, while 50 percent regularly see cigarette ads on outdoor billboards and banners, according to a survey conducted by the National Commission on Children Protection (Komnas Anak).
Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the Indonesian Health Ministry’s director general for disease control and environmental health, says the ads are designed to give impresionable youths the impression that smokers is “cool and confident.”
“While we believe that most children start smoking because of peer pressure, the process actually starts long before that, because our children are constantly exposed to cigarette ads. It’s just a matter of time before they take up smoking,” he says.
The WHO says that although most countries have tobacco control laws, a ban on advertising of tobacco products needs to be enforced. Glamour cigarettes.
“Statistics show that banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce tobacco demand,” says Samlee Plianbangchang, the WHO’s regional director.
“A comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship could cut consumption by an average of about 7 percent, with some countries experiencing a decline in consumption of up to 16
percent.”
The Global Adults Tobacco Survey 2011, released in 2012, ranks Indonesia second after China for the number of smokers.
The survey found that 67.4 percent of men and 4.5 percent of women in Indonesia were active smokers.
Tighter regulation
In January this year, Indonesia finally passed a long-awaited tobacco control regulation that imposes certain restrictions on cigarette advertising.
One of the restrictions will bar companies from portraying children, teenagers or pregnant women in their ads. The ads are also prohibited from glamorizing smoking or encourage people to take up the habit.
The regulation will require cigarette ads on television to devote 10 percent of their running time to written warnings with a pictorial warning. Ads on the radio would have to devote 10 percent of their duration to verbal warnings, while still-image ads would be required to devote 10 percent of their area for a warning.
The regulation also stipulates specific prohibitions for cigarette ads in print media. One of them is that these ads may never be published on the front or back cover of a print publication or near ads for food and drink products. Cigarette companies are also barred from taking out a full-page ad in any print publication.
Restrictions on outdoor media advertising include a prohibition on tobacco ads being displayed in smoke-free zones or along main roads.
The restrictions, however, will not apply to small-scale tobacco companies, defined as those that produce fewer than 24 million cigarettes a year.
“A partial ban is even more dangerous than no limitation at all,” says Lisda Sundari from Lentera Anak Indonesia, a non-government organization focusing on advocating children.
“It’s a manifestation of half-hearted protection for our children.”
Lisda cites the case of Padang Panjang district in West Sumatra, which imposed a total ban on outdoor cigarette ads and saw a sharp increase in revenue from outdoor billboards within six months of the ban.
“So when people claim that a total ban on cigarette ads will make them lose a lot of money and that many sports or music events will have to be canceled, they’re just being lazy, becaue there are so many other sponsors willing to step in,” she says.
“What really concerns me is that cigarette companies have started using social media to promote their products, obviously aiming for young customers.”
While the national regulation was passed in January, cigarette companies still have 12 months to comply with the rules, and 18 months to start printing pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages.
“It’s been almost five months since the regulation was issued, but so far nothing has changed,” says Arist Merdeka Sirait, the Komnas Anak chairman.
“Even worse, it seems like cigarette companies are using this opportunity to come up with more ads, sponsorship and promotion before they run out of time.”
Lisda says a total ban is the cheapest and the easiest way to put the brakes on the growing number of first-time smokers, many of whom are children.
“By banning ads, promotion and sponsorship we are trying to build the idea that cigarettes aren’t acceptable,” she says.