Appeal to Indonesian President

His Excellency The President of the Republic of Indonesia
Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

The international public health community is deeply concerned about Indonesia’s increasing tobacco use and the increasing incidence of tobacco related disease and deaths. We believe that in failing to give priority to tobacco control, Indonesia is creating a public health disaster.
Indonesia’s tobacco-related death toll is more than 200,000 a year. More than 60% of Indonesian men smoke. There is a disturbing trend of increasing prevalence of smoking among young children, with a 400% increase in smoking prevalence among the 5-9 year olds, and 40% increase among the 10-14 year olds. This emphasizes the need to protect children and the young from tobacco use.

Indonesia remains the only country in the whole Asia Pacific Region that has not acceded to the global tobacco treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Indonesia is lagging far behind many other Asian countries, which are Parties to the FCTC and enacting evidence-based tobacco control measures. By acceding to the FCTC Indonesia has much to gain as it will bring Indonesia on par with other Parties in the region and benefit from implementing the various articles that set internal standards in best practices.
Currently Indonesia is making itself vulnerable to transnational tobacco companies and their front groups, who are expanding their markets and whose goal is to maximize profits. Unfortunately, Indonesia is also being used as a platform to undermine tobacco control efforts in other countries. Tobacco control measures are not responsible for problems facing tobacco farmers, however often farmers are mobilized to fight public health measures.

On 27-29 October Indonesia will host the World Tobacco Asia (WTA) event which aims to further increase tobacco market both in Indonesia and Asia. Indonesia was selected because it is the world’s third largest tobacco market and still growing where cigarette consumption is increasing around 5% annually to some 168bn sticks. With foreign transnational tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco having acquired local Indonesian companies, this means poor Indonesian smokers are contributing towards making wealthy foreign companies even richer.
Tobacco advertising and promotional activities in Indonesia are unmatched anywhere else in Asia. Tobacco sponsorship of music and sports outlawed elsewhere in the world are flourishing in Indonesia. Rock groups from western countries such as USA, UK and Australia, who would not allow tobacco sponsorship of their concerts in their own countries or anywhere else, are performing in Indonesia under tobacco brand names.

We make this urgent appeal to Your Excellency:

• To protect Indonesia’s children and the public by not participating or endorsing the World Tobacco Asia event on 27-29 October in any way;
• For Indonesia to join the rest of Asia Pacific and accede to the FCTC immediately;
• To ban tobacco advertising, promotions, and sponsorship, including music and sports events, as a concrete step towards showing that Indonesia is putting public health before tobacco profits;


Thank you