By Xinhua
Yangon : Myanmar has declared the platform around the world-famous Shwedagon Pagoda here as a tobacco and betel free zone, banning smoking and chewing of betel leaf there with effect from this weekend, media reports said Thursday.
Such practices at the sacred site are prohibited for the first time in a bid to improve the image of the area in terms of hygiene, the Yangon Time said.
Shwedagon pagoda, where the relics of four Buddhas were enshrined and built over 2,500 years ago, remains one of the nine wonders in the world.
Myanmar has also banned smoking on university campuses in an effort to create a smoke-free environment.
The ban also applies to a wide range of public areas such as schools, stadiums and marts under a smoking and tobacco product consumption control law promulgated in May 2006. Some designated areas have been kept out of the purview of the act.
The law introduces strict restrictions with regard to sale and production of cigars and totally bans all forms of tobacco advertisements 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 was 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 2003 and was the 11th out of 192 countries to ratify the convention.
Myanmar launched a tobacco free initiative project in 2002.