CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
Strengthening smoke-free compliance in Indonesia by mobilizing Community Health Center workers
More details
Hide details
1
Tobacco Control, Vital Strategies, Jakarta, Indonesia
2
Tobacco Control, Vital Strategies, New York, United States
3
Tobacco Control, Vital Strategies, Singapore, Singapore
Publication date: 2025-06-23
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2025;23(Suppl 1):A159
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: Tobacco use remains a significant public health concern, and smoke-free policies play a crucial role in mitigating its impact. In Indonesia, however, the enforcement of smoke-free laws faces several challenges, including limited resources and low public awareness, which hinder full compliance and leave venue managers and the public inadequately informed about their responsibilities. Mobilizing community health center workers offers a viable solution to address these challenges and strengthen enforcement efforts.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: To overcome enforcement challenges, Vital Strategies support Palembang, Pontianak, and Depok city to incorporate community health workers into the smoke-free enforcement framework. By integrating with the routine activities of teams, the intervention aimed to expand the reach and capacity of local enforcement efforts. Health workers were tasked with educating venue managers, conducting no-smoking signage campaign, performing random inspections to identify violations, and record and report enforcement drives to city Smoke-Free Task Force. This innovative, cost-efficient model reduced the resource constraints faced by local authorities, thus strengthening the overall impact of smoke-free policies.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: This initiative led to significant improvements in compliance across six smoke-free indicators. in Pontianak, compliance increased from 33.3% to 90.1%; In Palembang, it rose from 23.5% in 2019 to 60.6% in 2023; and in Depok, from 15.3% to 42.3%. The successful collaboration between community health center teams and local enforcement authorities highlighted the effectiveness of utilizing existing community health infrastructure to enhance enforcement mechanisms. Engaging community health center workers proved to be a viable and impactful strategy for overcoming barriers and improving compliance with smoke-free policies.
CONCLUSIONS: Mobilizing community health workers for smoke-free law enforcement offers a sustainable and impactful solution to compliance challenges in Indonesia. This model has the potential to be expanded to other cities nationwide, fostering stronger enforcement, improved compliance, and better protection against the harms of tobacco use.