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Thousands of students and activists on Sunday rallied in Jakarta and other towns across the archipelago to mark World No Tobacco Day in one of the only countries in the region that lacks a ban on cigarette advertisements.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo attended an antitobacco rally in the capital.

“This event is in line with the government’s program to reduce air pollution, and the bad habit of smoking contributes largely to the air pollution,” Antara news agency quoted Bowo as saying.

Citing a global survey, Bowo said that 46.7 percent of youths have tried smoking. He added that 9 percent had access to tobacco since the age of 10, and 20 percent of them became active smokers.

“I’m very happy that such awareness to avoid smoking is already with you all, the youth. So, let’s fight together [against smoking],” Bowo told about 2,500 students.

Similar rallies were held in other parts of the nation.

Of Southeast Asia’s estimated 125 million cigarette smokers, about 46 percent are in Indonesia, the South-East Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) said on May 18. The antismoking group said Indonesia has become a “cash cow” for Philip Morris International, the owner of Indonesia’s PT HM Sampoerna.

Last year, the cigarette maker claimed 30 percent of the national market and an estimated revenue of 1 billion dollars.

According to SEATCA, 63 percent of Indonesian men smoke, with an estimated 200,000 dying each year of smoking-related diseases.

SEATCA said Indonesia and Cambodia are the only countries in Southeast Asia that have not implemented bans on cigarette advertising .

Over 90 percent of Indonesian children have seen cigarette advertisements on television, the group said.

Indonesia is also the only Southeast Asian country that has not ratified the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The government has argued that a cigarette-advertising ban might lead to rising unemployment in the country.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur