MYANMAR has become one of the first countries to ratify a landmark international convention for controlling tobacco products.

“We are very proud of the fact that Myanmar is the 11th of 192 countries to ratify the convention,” Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing, the manager of the Health Department’s Tobacco Free Initiative, said last week.

She said Myanmar had ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on April 20.

The ratification came five months after Myanmar became a signatory to the convention, the world’s first public health treaty on tobacco control.

Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing said Myanmar had ratified the convention to demonstrate its commitment to reducing the negative effects of tobacco consumption.

One of the advantages of ratification was that it would enable Myanmar to receive assistance from the World Health Organisation in controlling tobacco use, she said.

The WHO decided at its World Health Assembly in May 1996 to begin work on a convention aimed at protecting present and future generations from the damaging health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing said the negotiating process took more than four years.

Myanmar’s contribution to the process included hosting regional consultations on the convention in August, 2002.

The final draft was unanimously adopted the WHO’s 192 members at its World Health Assembly in May last year.

The Tobacco Free Initiative Project was launched two years ago, under the guidance of National Tobacco Control Committee.

Under guidelines set by the National Health and Tobacco Control committees all forms of tobacco advertising have been banned since April last year.

Dr Nyo Nyo Kyaing said the project placed an emphasis on advocacy and raising community awareness about the dangers of tobacco consumption.

The WHO estimates that there are more than a billion smokers throughout the world, with a major proportion in Asia.

It also estimates that about 4.9 million people die each year because of health problems associated with smoking.

It says providing treatment to those whose health has been affected by smoking costs more than US$2000 billion a year and is a major drain on the world’s financial resources.