In another attempt to deal with the increasing use of cigarettes, Lebanon could soon ban tobacco advertisements and raise the taxes levied on a wide array of tobacco products.
On March 4, Lebanon signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which requires "to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke."
The convention still needs to be ratified by the Parliament, The Daily Star reported.
Since 1983, Lebanon's Public Health Ministry has required that tobacco advertisements devote 15 percent of their space to health warnings - a figure that was later reduced to 10 percent.
Only around $8 million is earned by Lebanese advertisement agencies, and a ban of tobacco ads would drastically hit their revenues, the newspaper assessed.
Lebanese consume some 600 million cigarettes per year, spending more than $400 million annually. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
