YANGON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has reiterated ban on advertisements of cigarette and liquor, warning that such advertisement billboards erected in the Yangon municipal area, will be removed if found, the local Myanmar Newsweek reported Wednesday.

    Quoting Yangon Mayor Brigadier-General Aung Thein Lin, the report said the ban aims at preventing immature youths from being absorbed in smoking and drinking, and from leading a wrong path of life.

    Myanmar has prohibited smoking in 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 applies 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 May 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 have 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 2003and was the 11th out of 192 countries to ratify the convention.