The number of children smoking in Indonesia is getting out of control

9 years ago | Posted in: World | 1428 Views

CICAPAR, Indonesia — Dihan’s family is very proud of him. Until just a few months ago, Dihan was smoking up to two packs of cigarettes a day, but he has managed to cut down.

“He was sick, he was coughing a lot, and the doctor said he had to quit. He’s been trying hard, and now he just smokes five a day,” said his mother, Sulawati.

Dihan is six and has been smoking for years.

Dihan’s parents say they were shocked when they first realized he wasn’t buying candies but cigarettes with his pocket money. But they didn’t act on it.

“If I grabbed the cigarette from him he would just start crying,” explained Iyan, Dihan’s father. Dihan now often smokes with his father in their tiny one-bedroom house.

Iyan is a tobacco farmer, and a chain-smoker himself. Under the house’s porch, he keeps four massive bags of tobacco, about 100 kilograms in total, for his personal yearly consumption. Dihan is allowed to have some, and has become very good at rolling his own cigarettes.

Activists blame the Indonesian authorities for this lack of awareness of the dangers of tobacco. A few years back, a video of an Indonesian toddler smoking 40 cigarettes a day went viral worldwide, and prompted heartfelt official declarations in the country.

But not much has changed. In fact, things are getting worse. Lisda Sundari, deputy director for education and advocacy at the local children NGO Lentera Anak, said the number of children aged 10 to 14 who smoke has doubled over the past 20 years, and has at least tripled for 5- to 9-year olds.

Sixty-seven percent of Indonesian men and 41 percent of 13 to 15 year-old boys smoke. Indonesia is one of the few countries in the world that hasn’t signed the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This means cigarettes are still extremely cheap (about one dollar a pack) and cigarette advertising is not forbidden.

Anti-tobacco activists celebrated last June when the government started require cigarette companies to include graphic health warnings on their packs. But it was a minor victory. Cigarette advertising is still absolutely everywhere here.

The ads are on Television, in newspapers and magazines, and plastered on trees lining the roads. Indonesian cities are choked with giant billboards promising “pleasure, style and confidence.” Cigarette companies sponsor almost all of the country’s concerts and sports events, not to mention refugee camps… see more

source: globalpost

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