Indonesia seen as tobacco-tax battle ground

A professor of public health at the University of Indonesia’s School of Public Health, Hasbullah Thabrany, has warned that Indonesia has become a main target for the tobacco industry, according to a story in The Jakarta Post.

“It seems that we are in a battle ground, where tobacco company owners are among the country’s richest people, making money from poor people addicted to their product,” Hasbullah said.

The National Commission on Tobacco Control, together with civil and health groups concerned with tobacco control in Indonesia, has urged the government to ignore pressure from the tobacco industry and the International Tax and Investment Center, which is seen as fighting for the cigarette industry’s agenda.

Hasbullah said that if the government wished to regain its sovereignty over the economy, it had to implement a pro-people economic policy.