Myanmar: Cigaratte Smoking on the Rise among Myanmar Students Source from: Eleven (mm) 12/05/2013 Myanmar plans to launch seminars in schools to discourage tobacco use among students as cigarette smoking as well as tobacco chewing is on the rise, according to Department of Health. Tobacco use among students had declined to 4.9 percent in 2007 from a record 10.2 percent in 2001 according to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey. However, the same survey conducted in 2011 showed that cigarettes smoking among students was back up to 6.8 percent and recent official data released by Ministry of Health also shows that usage of chewing tobacco is also on the rise. "We plan to add more necessary provisions in it as suggested by respective departments. We also plan to initiate school lessons on usage of tobacco products for young students as the usage among them gets higher. Although the government imposed a ban on tobacco advertisement, they [tobacco product manufacturers] still managed to reach the public in different ways," said Dr. Nan Naing Naing Shein from Anti-Tobacco Project of the department. Currently the government is working on a new by-law to control the use of cigarettes and all other forms of tobacco such as chewing tobacco. Though Myanmar enacted the Control of Smoking and Consumption of Tobacco Product Law in 2006, public awareness about it and official law enforcement is still weak, according to law experts. Myanmar has ratified the international tobacco control treaty, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003, as the 11th member of the Convention. Enditem |
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