Myanmar official media Monday warned of the danger of tobacco, calling on the country's people to actively participate in the control of tobacco consumption.
In the wake of the warning by the World Health Organization (WHO) that consumption of tobacco and tobacco products killed over five million people yearly and the use of tobacco remained the main factor of causing diseases in the year 2020, the New Light of Myanmar quoted Myanmar Health Minister Dr. Kyaw Myint as stressing the need to organize the people to know the danger of tobacco and to join in tobacco consumption control.
The WHO has designated the motto "Tobacco Health Warning" for this year with a view to enabling the people to understand the danger of tobacco by printing the health warning on packages of tobacco.
According to the paper, Myanmar marked the World No Tobacco Day- 2009 in Nay Pyi Taw ceremonially on Sunday.
The Myanmar authorities occasionally reiterated the ban on advertisements of cigarette as well as liquor, warning that such advertisement billboards erected will be removed if found.
The ban aims at preventing in matured youths from being absorbed in smoking and drinking, and from leading a wrong path of life.
Myanmar has prohibited smoking on university campuses in the country since December 2006 in an effort to create tobacco-smoke- free environment for the health of the university students.
The ban also applied to a wide range of public accessible areas such as school, stadium and mart but not in some specific areas under a smoking and tobacco product consumption control law promulgated in 2006.
The law introduces some strict restrictions with regard to sale and production of cigar and totally bans all forms of tobacco advertisement including advertising through sponsoring sports matches.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar health authorities also stressed the need to expand the country's anti-tobacco campaign to rural areas where smokers, especially women, are high in number.
Noting that most women smokers are poor and uneducated, health officials pointed out that smoking is more prevalent among women in rural areas than in urban ones.
Myanmar has been committed to controlling tobacco consumption by ratifying the International Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It became a signatory to the convention in September 2003 and was the 11th out of 192 countries to ratify the convention.