Walter Balansa – This month, Indonesia will celebrate National Health Day. For the second year in a row, it will pass with the Health Law's tobacco control regulation still pending. In this feat of legislative inertia, we're witnessing one of most offensive examples of political delaying tactics in the history of Indonesian government.

An exaggeration? Far from it. Look at what's being put at risk by delaying the measure: The health of innocent people (especially women and children), the lives of thousands of young people and the country's reputation.

A year after the Health Law was passed, the delay in implementing the regulation is putting Indonesia to shame. It certainly does nothing to dispel the image of the 2-year-old from South Sumatra who shocked the world with a nicotine addiction that had him smoking 40 cigarettes a day.

His story appeared in television and newspaper reports around the world, and a YouTube video of him smoking attracted more than six million views – two million more than Barack Obama's presidential inauguration.

But that wasn't the only case of a youngster smoking – this March, a video of a 4-year-old Indonesian blowing smoke also appeared briefly on YouTube, prompting outcries before it was removed from the site.

Indonesia is the world's third-largest tobacco producer and sells the cheapest cigarettes in the world. In the words of Simon Chapman, a professor in public health from the University of Sydney, the country "is a basket case in tobacco control and heaven for smokers."

It also means women and children are at high risk of exposure to smoke, making them passive smokers. Even in a country with a far smaller smoking population such as England, Great Ormond Street Hospital reports about 17,000 children are hospitalized every year due to passive smoking.

By delaying the regulation, the government is also risking future generations. The World Health Organization says children who are regularly exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to get bronchitis and pneumonia in their first year of life. Such children are at increased risk of suffering severe asthma attacks, it says.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has said a quarter of Indonesian children aged 3-15 have tried cigarettes, with 3.2 percent of them being active smokers. The percentage of those aged 5-9 lighting up increased from 0.4 percent in 2001 to 2.8 percent in 2004.

Of course, the tobacco industry is a lucrative business in Indonesia, generating $5.4 billion and making up 6.5 percent of the government budget, according to BBC Indonesia. This is perhaps the main reason for the government's reluctance to bring in regulations on tobacco control.

For Kartono Muhammad, a health analyst from the Indonesian Tobacco Control Network, the disadvantages of smoking vastly outweigh the advantages. Indonesia, for example, receives Rp 60 trillion ($6.72 billion) a year from taxes on cigarettes, but more than twice that amount is spent on treating smoking-related diseases.

Many elements required to control smoking are already well known. First, we need to raise public awareness about the impact of smoking on health. Chapman, the University of Sydney professor, has said, "In a culture where tobacco control is not taken seriously, it's highly likely that people will think that children smoking is an amusing sight rather than a tragic sight."

Tobacco advertising must also be curbed in media and public places because it has a significant impact on smoking. A WHO report says nearly 80 percent of American advertising executives from top agencies believe cigarette advertising does make smoking more appealing or socially acceptable to children.

Increasing the taxes and price of cigarettes can also be used to reduce smoking. But most importantly, the government has to enact the tobacco regulation and enforce it. This is because despite the fact the Health Law recognizes smoking as dangerous, there is no protection for women or children.

In fact, the central government doesn't have any interest in ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. But luckily, others are taking steps forward. Look at Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, who has initiated a smoking ban in public buildings.

Imagine if the government were to enact the tobacco control regulation on National Health Day. Instead, Nov. 12 will likely be one more day to wonder if the government truly cares about smoking controls.

[Walter Balansa is a doctoral student at Australia's University of Queensland.]