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Experts urge Jokowi to ratify tobacco control convention

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Jakarta Globe - November 3, 2014

Dessy Sagita, Barcelona – International advocates for tobacco control have called on President Joko Widodo to ratify a World Health Organization framework aimed at minimizing harm from cigarettes.

Ehsan Latif, tobacco control director at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (Union), told the Jakarta Globe that signing the World Health Organization's Framework Conventional of Tobacco Control (FCTC) should be a top priority on Joko's health agenda.

"For the last five to six years now, signing, ratifying and acceding to the FCTC has been the most important thing the Indonesian government has needed to do. It should have been done yesterday," Ehsan said on the sidelines of the 45th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Barcelona, Spain.

"We hope and pray that this new president is more open to the idea and will give something back to the people."

Indonesia isolated

Ehsan, who was one of dozens of health care professionals, policy makers and tobacco control advocates at the Barcelona conference, said that by refusing to be a part of the FCTC community, Indonesia had alienated itself.

"The government of Indonesia needs to realize the impact it [ratifying the FCTC] will have on its popularity in the region – in the whole world – when they join the [Convention's] other parties," Ehsan said.

Eshan said Indonesia has only been given observer status under the Convention. This means Indonesia's representatives are denied the privilege of speaking during meetings of FCTC signatories.

"How will it [Indonesia] defend its economy, its own status, [and] arguments when it is only an observer?"

Packaging policy not enough

Indonesia recently implemented a regulation obligating tobacco companies to devote at least 40 percent of their packaging's surface area to graphic pictures warning users about its contents' affect on health. But Ehsan says the measure is insufficient, especially as other countries have begun to shift toward plain packaging that attempts to undercuts tobacco products' brand appeal.

"If the Indonesian government thinks what was valid 10 years ago is valid now, they're still living in the past," Ehsan said. "It needs to move with the time."

The Indonesian government, however, defends its regulation of the tobacco industry. Ministry of Health's director of health promotion Lily Sulistyowati said that although Indonesia is not part of the FCTC community, the government made serious efforts to regulate tobacco use.

Lily said schools have been no-smoking zones since 1978 and the ministry has been active in promoting public awareness campaigns about harm from cigarettes.

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of smoking among any county in the world, with an estimated 65 million smokers. Cigarette prices in Indonesia are also among the world's lowest.

Ehsan called the government's regulatory work "half-hearted." "Why beat around the bush when what you really need is to attack the bush?" he said. "Half-hearted regulation is like a weed, if you clip it from the top it will just grow again."

'Quit being afraid'

Ehsan's calls were echoed by noted tobacco-control activist and former chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Ifdhal Kasim.

He cited a recent UN Social and Economic Council (Ecosoc) convention that recommended that Indonesia immediately accede to the FCTC in order to protect its citizens' economic and human rights. Indonesia was asked to review all regulations concerning public health issues at the meeting, Ifdhal said.

"We are a state party of [Ecosoc's founding] Covenant and as a state party we have an obligation to comply with the treaty," Ifdhal said. He urged the government to "stop being afraid" of the FCTC. Acceding to it, he said, would not kill the livelihood of tobacco farmers.

If the Indonesian government wanted to improve the livelihood of farmers, Ifdhal said, it should start by banning imported tobacco and ensuring farmers are protected from the tobacco industry's manipulation.

Indonesia is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region that has not ratified the WHO's Framework Convention of Tobacco Control, which seeks to curb tobacco consumption through advertising restrictions and pictorial warnings on cigarette packs.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/experts-urge-jokowi-ratify-tobacco-control-convention/

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