YANGON, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- All billboards advertising cigarettes and alcohol will be totally banned in Myanmar from the end of March as a follow-up of the move initiated in 2002, the local Myanmar Times reported in this week's issue.

    The country introduced an anti-tobacco plan of action in July 2000. Since then, cigarettes and alcohol advertisements have been banned from television and newspaper. Legislation is also being drafted to further ban such advertisements from other print media and radio, according to the report.

    In response to the call by the World Health Organization (WHO),Myanmar has taken control of the cultivation of tobacco and production of cigarettes and working towards gradual realization of the target of tobacco-free.

    In 2003, Myanmar declared schools, hospitals and gymnasiums as tobacco-free zones.

    Meanwhile, also in September 2003, Myanmar became the 75th country to sign the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

    According to the WHO figures, Myanmar has been producing an average of 40,000 tons of unmanufactured tobacco annually since 1990, equivalent to 0.5 percent of the world production.

    Official statistics show that in 2002, Myanmar produced 2.65 billion cigarettes in number. Among the country's general population, the prevalence use of tobacco is 38 percent. Total tobacco consumption is in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 cigarettes per adult per year. Enditem