Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Despite their financial hardships, many poor families in Indonesia prioritize spending on cigarettes rather than on other needs. Six out of 10 poor households report spending on cigarettes.

According to the 2009 National Socio-Economic survey, poor households spent 19 percent of their income on staple foods and 11 percent on tobacco, 2 percent for education and 3 percent on health care.

Ekowati Rahajeng, the Health Ministry director of non-communicable diseases, said the spending habits could be related to the economic conditions that made poor people resort to smoking cigarettes without realizing that spending in cigarettes would only pull them deeper into poverty.

Abdillah Hasan from the Demography Institution of University of Indonesia calculated the potential loss of consuming cigarettes. "Let's say they consume a pack of cigarettes a day that cost them Rp 10,000 [US$1.18]. In a month, they will spend Rp 300,000 and Rp 3.65 million in a year," Abdillah said.

He went on, saying that in 10 years they could save Rp 36.5 million, which could be spent on a down payment for a house or pay an admission fee to a university for their children.

Therefore, the institution urged the government to issue cigarette control regulations through, among other methods, increasing the cigarette tax, a total ban on cigarette advertisement, health warnings through pictures printed on the cigarette packs and imposing smoke-free areas.