Committed to Implementing the No Smoking Area Regulation, Danny Pomanto is Honored with the 2024 National Workshop Award

THE EDITOR – Since the beginning of his tenure as Mayor of Makassar, Danny Pomanto has strategized to protect and guarantee everyone’s right to breathe clean air without exposure to cigarette smoke through Regional Regulation No. 4/2013 on Smoke Free Areas and Smoking Hazards.

Because of this commitment, Makassar City made another achievement by winning the ADINKES 2024 National Pentaloka award for its initiative and success in implementing the No Smoking Area (KTR).

This prestigious award was presented by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto at the Sahid Raya Convention & Exhibition Centre Hotel, Yogyakarta, Tuesday (5/11/2024).

Bima Arya said, one of the categories that must be achieved by each region in order to win this award is the eight main objectives that must be achieved, including improving the quality of human resources in the fields of health and education.

To welcome the Golden Indonesia 2045, he continued, very healthy human resources are needed. This factor can only be achieved if there is no more malnutrition or stunting in the country.

And, according to him, cigarette consumption has an influence on the high stunting rate in Indonesia. This is based on data from the Ministry of Finance which shows that cigarettes are consumed second largest after food.

“What this means is that if we can control cigarettes, then we should also be able to control stunting,” he said.

HOW DID MAKASSAR WIN THE ADINKES NATIONAL PENTALOKA AWARD?

The No Smoking Area (KTR) has been a concern of Makassar Mayor Danny Pomanto since 10 years ago with the issuance of Regional Regulation Number 4 Year 2013. One of his efforts is to form a KTR Task Force.

Head of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) of the Makassar Health Office, Andi Mariani, said that the Office is targeting 1,000 KTR. Each of them will later be fitted with a sticker containing an appeal that the location must be smoke-free.

However, the regulation seems worthless as people still smoke in office areas, public services, schools, and hotels. Even the regulation has not been implemented optimally.

“The obstacle is that there are still many people who do not know about KTR. We have a lot of homework. More than 1,000 KTR points are targeted,” said Andi Mariani.

In order to maximize the socialization of the KTR regulation, the involvement of OPDs within the Makassar City Government is needed. In its implementation efforts, the KTR Task Force will target government offices to public health centers in Makassar. The next targets are hotels and shopping areas.

“We will start conducting inspections to hotels and shopping areas to ensure that the KTR regulation has been implemented properly by the management,” he said.

A total of 29 districts and cities throughout Indonesia, including Makassar City, received this award as a form of support for the commitment of regional governments in strengthening the implementation of KTR and improving the quality of public health.

The event was also attended by the Head of Makassar Health Office Nursaidah Sirajuddin as well as heads of health offices and health center teams from across Indonesia.