[Headlines Only] [Top Stories Only]
Categories
· Health/Science
· Tobacco Control
non-USA, by Country
· Iceland

Indonesia's addiction to cigarettes 

Jump to full article: Sky News (au), 2009-04-26

Intro:

The most frequently ignored phrase in Indonesia must surely be 'Dilarang Merokok' - No Smoking.

In restaurants, cinemas, hotels and shopping malls, No Smoking signs can often be spotted behind a haze of cigarette smoke.

Indonesians really love their durries - they smoke an estimated 220 billion of the things a year.

A staggering 63 per cent of Indonesia's men are smokers, and women and children are taking up the habit at a remarkable rate, according to anti-tobacco campaigners.

The average Indonesian household spends around 11 per cent of its income on cigarettes - that's second only to rice, and well ahead of fruit and vegetables, meat, education and housing. . . .

Indonesia has done pretty much nothing.

It is one of a handful of countries that refuse to sign up to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into force in 2005. . . .

Meanwhile, at least 200,000 Indonesians are dying every year from smoking-related illnesses, anti-tobacco campaigners say.

Jump to full article »