Evaluation of Tobacco Tax Funding to Eradicate Illicit Cigarettes in Indonesia: A Qualitative Approach

Objectives: The illicit cigarette trade endangers public health because it increases access to cheaper tobacco products, hence fueling the tobacco epidemic and undermining tobacco control policies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the execution of an illicit cigarette eradication program under the jurisdiction of the local government in Indonesia. We sought to provide insights into the effectiveness of current policies and their impact on the illicit cigarette trade in line with the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products. Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with key policy-makers and semistructured FGDs with consumers and small- to medium-scale cigarette manufacturers at the district level. We indentified Pasuruan and Kudus as the districts or cities with the highest proportion of DBH CHT, and Jepara and Malang as a district with a highest illicit cigarette incident. We used reflective thematic analysis to identify the important opportunities and challenges facing illicit cigarette eradication programs in the three districts. Results: We identified four opportunities and four challenges related to illicit cigarette eradication program implementation under the local government. The opportunities for illicit cigarette eradication lie in strong central government regulatory and multisectoral authority support, consumer awareness, and local governments’ commitment to tobacco supply chain control. The key challenges facing illicit cigarette eradication include ineffective public dissemination programs, rapidly changing regulatory designs, consumers’ preferences for illicit products, and a lack of industrial involvement in tobacco supply chain control programs. Conclusion: In addition to significant budget allocation and increasing consumer awareness, local programs to eradicate illicit cigarette production require considerable evaluation to rethink the program’s design and external stakeholders’ engagement within the local government’s scope.