Advertising Blocking and Restricting Cigarette Purchases as a Solution for Reducing Smoking Prevalence in Indonesia

Abstract

Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in 2021 reported that Indonesia has the highest number of male smokers and the third largest number of smokers worldwide after India and China. From 2012-2022, the Indonesian government increased the import duty on tobacco products and tried to reduce smokers' growth rate yearly in addition to providing income to the country. However, that has yet to work due to the health care costs of smoking exceeding the national income from cigarettes and tobacco. This paper examines ad blocking and restrictions on purchasing cigarettes as a solution to reducing smoking prevalence in Indonesia. This study employs ethnography, where observations are made on social media, YouTube, and during field research in Semarang. It also conducts online interviews via WhatsApp with cigarette vendors in Semarang who serve as informants. supplementary to secondary data sources found in journals, e-books, and other online resources. This study demonstrates the significant role that cigarette advertising plays in the rise of smokers, particularly among young people. Government Regulation No. 109/2012 on Safeguarding Substances Containing Addictive Tobacco Products for Health forbids smoking, which is considered less desirable. The ramifications of this discovery necessitate and motivate the government to enact laws that immediately prevent commercials while also rigorously regulating and limiting the sale of cigarettes to children and youth, for example, by deploying the PeduliLindungi application, which would be presumed to have been highly successful in containing the COVID-19 in the past 2020–2021.