A survey of over 1500 groceries in 10 provinces and cities reveals that up to 95 percent of them violate the rules on cigarette advertising, promoting and sponsoring.

Hanoi Medical University performed this survey last November and announced their findings on April 20.

Nearly 70 percent of groceries breaking the rules on advertising cigarette, for example, display too many of a cigarette brand or too many cigarette logos.

Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh, a member of the survey group, remarked that tobacco companies fully take advantage of gaps in laws to advertise and promote cigarette through displays, using posters on trolleys or glass boxes at groceries and shops or sponsoring cultural, sports and charity activities.

According to statistics, up to 56 percent of Vietnamese men are smokers. There are around 40,000 deaths related to cigarette in Vietnam each year, four times higher than the number of victims of traffic accidents.

Researchers argue that cigarette advertising, promotion and sponsorship can attract youth to smoking.

PV