The smoking prevalence of adults in Indonesia increased from 33 percent in 2000 to 39 percent in 2016. This rise in smoking allows Indonesia to have one of the highest smoking prevalence in the world (WHO, 2018). The role of the government in restricting and controlling cigarette consumption can strongly influence the prevalence of smoking fluctuations. However, until now, Indonesia has not ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), agreed by member countries of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The FCTC is a framework as a global commitment, to improving public health standards through controlling tobacco consumption and promotion of the devasting health, economic, and social consequences of tobacco consumption.

The FCTC aims to protect current and future generations from the harmful effects of tobacco consumption. The FCTC encourages participating countries to take a strong stance and the right steps toward including minimum standards of the convention into policies. Indonesia is one of nine countries that is yet to ratify the FCTC. Moreover, Indonesia is the only country in both the Asia Pacific and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OKI), who is yet to ratify the FCTC.

The Indonesian Government argues that creating policies to restrict tobacco consumption will have a negative impact on the national economy, threatening the survival of tobacco farmers and owners’ interests of the cigarette industry, and the workers of the cigarette industry. Meanwhile, the negative impacts of cigarette consumption on the declining purchasing power of the poor for the basic commodities and nutrition, is less considered by the government to develop policies restricting tobacco and cigarette consumption. In fact, the implementation of a policy with weak cigarette restrictions will dramatically decrease the economy of the poor. The WHO (2018) states that the health burden caused by cigarette consumption causes households to fall into poverty.