Many Indonesia Hospitals Not Yet Tobacco-Free

Countless hospitals and schools in Jakarta are not yet free of cigarette smoke. According to the Regional Environment Management Agency (BPLHD) of Jakarta, based on a survey between March and May 2011 in seven No Smoking Zones in five regions of Jakarta, a number of hospitals and schools have yet to be deemed smoke-free environment.

The seven surveyed zones included offices, schools, hotels and restaurants, public transport, places of worship, medical facilities and shopping centers.

"As many as six percent of respondents is exposed to cigarette smoke every day in educational facilities, while two percent of respondents in healthcare facilities such as hospitals," said Chairman of BPLHD Jakarta, Peni Susanti on Monday.

Peni said the Gubernatorial Regulation No.88/2010 states that schools and hospitals must be 100% free of cigarette smoke.

The joint survey was conducted by Demographic Institute of University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Economics (LD-UI) and Swisscontact Indonesia Foundation. 210 other facilities were also on the survey list.

"In a total of 30 educational facilities, or 30 percent of the 210 additional buildings, people were still found smoking inside the buildings. Meanwhile, violations of smoking were found in 19 percent of the remaining buildings," he explained.

Jakarta Tourism Office also initiated a separate survey toward 481 respondents on August 22, 2011 at restaurants. Through an online questionnaire, 78 percent of respondents claimed being disturbed by cigarette smoke.

"Even the smokers themselves claimed being disturbed by someone else's smoke," said Head of Jakarta Tourism Office Arie Budiman.

As many as 79 percent of respondents claimed to agree upon smoke-free restaurants. Meanwhile, 71 percent of respondents said they would still frequent their favorite restaurants that ban smoking.

Similar conclusion was found in an additional survey conducted with Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) in 70 hotels, 70 restaurants and 70 offices. Out of these, 44 hotels still have smoking zones and in 43 percent of these people were still found smoking. As regards restaurants, as many as 47 have smoking zones.

The survey also found that 94 percent of 841 respondents claimed not being comfortable in smoke-polluted room, and 90 percent of smokers claimed the same.