Kathmandu, June 1:

A survey report made public on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day here insisted that the advertising of tobacco-products on any medium needs to be banned, considering the health of the future generation.

The report published yesterday based on a survey conducted by Mrigendra-Samjhana Medical Trust stated that about four per cent of the school-kids in the age-group 13-15 regularly smoke cigarettes and other eight per cent 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 per cent. The students that spotted ads on print media last month constitute 87.3 per cent and those carrying items bearing a logo of a tobacco-related product make up 10.7 per cent. Students buying tobacco products from nearby shops are 38.1 per cent.

The report states that some 11 per cent 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 says.

The report mentioned that 7.2 per cent school staff, including teachers, regularly smoke, whereas 9.8 per cent smoke occasionally. About nine per cent used other forms of tobacco regularly, while 10.8 per cent 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.