Ninety-three percent of Indonesian children are exposed to cigarette ads on television

Ninety-three percent of Indonesian children are exposed to cigarette ads on television, while 50 percent regularly see cigarette ads on outdoor billboards and banners, according to a survey conducted by the National Commission on Children Protection (Komnas Anak).
Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the Indonesian Health Ministry’s director general for disease control and environmental health, says the ads are designed to give impresionable youths the impression that smokers is “cool and confident.”
“While we believe that most children start smoking because of peer pressure, the process actually starts long before that, because our children are constantly exposed to cigarette ads. It’s just a matter of time before they take up smoking,” he says.
The WHO says that although most countries have tobacco control laws, a ban on advertising of tobacco products needs to be enforced.
“Statistics show that banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce tobacco demand,” says Samlee Plianbangchang, the WHO’s regional director.
“A comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship could cut consumption by an average of about 7 percent, with some countries experiencing a decline in consumption of up to 16 percent.”
The Global Adults Tobacco Survey 2011, released in 2012, ranks Indonesia second after China for the number of smokers.
The survey found that 67.4 percent of men and 4.5 percent of women in Indonesia were active smokers.