Dallying with Death

If President Joko Widodo gives the green light to the Tobacco Bill submitted by the House of Representatives (DPR) last December, he will look like a turncoat deserting his own principles embodied in the Medium-term Development Plan for 2015-2019. One of the points is aimed at reducing smoking among the under-18 year olds, by 25 percent.

In 2015, teenage smokers made up of 7.2 percent of Indonesia's 255 million population. Jokowi aims to reduce that number to 4.5 percent in four years' time. Even without the Tobacco Bill, smoking among teens aged 10-14 years jumped from 0.7 percent in 2001 to 4.8 percent, according to the health ministry's primary health research carried out in 2013. The Bill sets very lax regulations on tobacco, particularly on its trade and control. The articles in the Bill also run counter to other existing laws. Advertisement and distribution of tobacco products, for example, overlap with articles in the health law and its derivative regulations.