A survey report made public on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day in Kathmandu insisted that the advertising of tobacco-products on any medium needs to be banned, considering the health of the future generation.
According to Monday's The Himalayan Times daily, the report published Sunday based on a survey conducted by Mrigendra-Samjhana Medical Trust stated that about 4 percent of the school-kids in the age-group 13-15 regularly smoke cigarettes and other 8 percent take other forms of tobacco.
The report said that 47.3 percent of the students were affected by smoking in public places. The students who were affected from family smokers stand at 35.3 percent. The students that spotted ads on print media last month constitute 87.3 percent and those carrying items bearing a logo of a tobacco-related product make up 10.7 percent. Students buying tobacco products from nearby shops are 38.1 percent.
The report stated that some 11 percent got gifts that carried logos of tobacco products from the companies. The figures are enough to prove that youth are falling to tobacco ads, the report stated.
The report mentioned that 7.2 percent school staff, including teachers, regularly smoke, whereas 9.8 percent smoke occasionally. About 9 percent used other forms of tobacco regularly, while 10.8 percent consumed it occasionally.
The research also maintains that students addicted to smoking were willing to quit the habit. The trust claimed that the survey was the first of its kind in Nepal. The sample included students in the 13-15 age-group, teachers and school staffers around the country.
(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2008)