Tobacco companies are targeting consumers through social networking websites to market their products.

Products like Marlboro, Benson and Hedges and Lucky Strike are appearing on social networks like Facebook where users can become a fan of the brand.

Greater exposure to point-of-sale (POS) tobacco advertising displays are leading to an increase in youth smoking, a recent study published in Tobacco Control has found.

According to the study’s authors, this is the first study that explores the association between exposure to POS tobacco displays and smoking uptake in a jurisdiction where POS is the only form of tobacco promotion.

Liberia ratified the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on 18 September 2009. This brings the total Parties to ratify up to 167, which covers 86.44% of the world’s population.

Program manager at non-profit organization Community Development Outreach (CDO) in Liberia Vita Ishmael Tue said ratification will move Liberia towards formulating national tobacco law and fully implementing the FCTC.

Uruguay will have the largest cigarette warnings in the world, which will cover 80 per cent of the front and back of packages.

The new warnings will appear on cigarette packages in Uruguay on March 1, 2010.