Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(May 30, 2015, Jakarta, Indonesia and New York, USA) World Lung Foundation (WLF) today encouraged Indonesians to become involved in a new campaign designed to raise awareness of the real harms of tobacco and second-hand smoke. The campaign is a joint initiative from Komnas Pengendalian Tembakau, Smoke Free Agents, Smoke Free Jakarta and Universitas Negeri Jakarta. World Lung Foundation has provided technical and financial support for the initiative, which calls on members of the public to tweet or post to Facebook under the #SuaraTanpaRokok tag or visit the website http://suaratanparokok.co.id to share their stories of how tobacco or secondhand smoke has harmed them or someone close to them. Those not affected by tobacco are also encouraged to visit the website to learn about the real experiences of others and to discover why they should support tobacco control.
Victim testimonials in Indonesia
The public in Indonesia has responded sympathetically to two national campaigns featuring the stories of victims of tobacco. Panjaitan showed the story of a religious man and community elder who was left unable to speak after surgery to treat life-threatening cancer of the larynx – the result of decades of cigarette use. Recently Ike, a mother of two from Surabaya who has been diagnosed with throat cancer, shared her story as a victim of second-hand smoke. The public service announcement (PSA) featuring Ike is highlighted on http://suaratanparokok.co.id and the website also provides scientific information on the proven harms of tobacco and second-hand smoke.
Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President, Policy and Communications, World Lung Foundation, said: “The experiences of real victims of tobacco are a powerful antidote to tobacco industry misinformation, but in the public arena each individual’s personal or family story is typically represented as a number reported in health data. The actual harm, the actual suffering of real people and their families usually isn’t heard, while the tobacco industry spends millions of dollars on promotion and marketing. This campaign aims to change that. It uses social media to empower those individuals and those families. It gives them a voice. It helps the victims of tobacco understand that they aren’t alone and that many others are suffering similar fates. It bypasses vested interests to reveal the real truth about tobacco and second-hand smoke. We strongly encourage the people of Indonesia to make their voices heard, like Ike and Panjaitan, so citizens – particularly youth – can make more informed choices about regulating and rejecting tobacco use. The voices of Indonesia’s people have the potential to be a powerful agent for change and for health.”
About tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke in Indonesia
According to The Tobacco Atlas, 57.1 percent of men and 3.6 percent of women and 41 percent of boys and 3.5 percent of girls in Indonesia smoke tobacco. This means that 2,677,000 children and more than 53,767,000 adults in Indonesia use tobacco each day. In addition, a further 1.7 percent of adults use smokeless tobacco, which also causes harm. As a result, tobacco kills nearly 20 percent of men and over eight percent of women in Indonesia each year.
High prevalence of tobacco use leads to high levels of exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) among non-smokers – particularly women and children. Exposure to SHS increases the risk of developing lung cancer by as much as 300 percent and increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease by 25 percent. Exposure to SHS is a common problem in Indonesia, where smokefree policies apply only to healthcare facilities, universities and public transportation, leaving government and office workers and those working in the hospitality industry at risk from SHS. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 2008–2013, found that nearly 80 percent of adults aged 15 and over were exposed to SHS at home, while more than 85 percent of adults were exposed to SHS in restaurants, and more than 50 percent of adults were exposed to SHS in the workplace in Indonesia.