TWO years after the State Peace and Development Council announced
a tobacco crackdown law, public awareness is still weak.
And Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing, the Department of Health project manager
for the government’s Tobacco-Free Initiative, has called
on members of the public to speak out if they see someone smoking
in a public place where it is prohibited by law.
“For example, if you are on the bus and someone is smoking,
please do not keep quiet. You have the right to claim that he
is breaking the law and his smoke is disturbing you and harming
your health,” she said, adding that this is also an effective
way to enforce the law.
May 31 was World No Tobacco Day, whose theme this year was “Tobacco-free
Youth”. The slogan is “Ban All Tobacco Advertising,
Promotion and Sponsorship”.
The law was due to come into force one year later, in May 2007.
Surveys done in 2001, 2004 and 2007 among students in 100 schools
throughout the country showed that, though the rate of smoking
cigarettes is low, the rate of exposure to second-hand smoke in
public places and exposure to advertising is high.
“We banned all forms of tobacco advertisement before 2004
but some advertisements on items of clothing, such as hats and
shirts, can still be seen,” she said.
Myanmar is a party to the World Health Organisation Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control and has enacted comprehensive tobacco
control legislation. Smoking is banned in schools, tobacco control
issues and lessons have been included in school curricula, and
the taxation on cigarettes is 75 percent.
The regulations ban smoking in places such as hospitals, schools,
universities, sports stadiums and public transport, as well as
enclosed spaces such as markets, museums and cinemas. Offices,
factories, hotels, railway stations, airports, bus terminals and
harbours have limited smoking areas.
She said, “Myanmar’s level of achievement in controlling
tobacco products compares with other Southeast Asian countries.
But to make the law more effective, cooperation among ministries,
the public and the media is important.”
