Port-Louis, Mauritius — The British American Tobacco (BAT) has said that cigarette smoking was declining at a rate of 3 percent annually in Mauritius.

According to Hema Soniassy from BAT's Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Department, the Indian Ocean Island nation recorded a decline of 34 percent in cigarette smoking during the past decade.

Soniassy recalled that the enterprise launched a campaign in 1999 to sensitise children and adolescents on the ill effects of tobacco.

"That is not the end. We are launching again such a campaign but this time mainly targeting the vendors who'll be asked not to sell cigarettes to children and adolescents," she said.

Some 720 tonnes of tobacco are used annually by the BAT - 660 tonnes come from local producers and 60 tonnes are imported.

BAT is the largest contributor to the economy of the island generating more than 1.5 billion rupees or 6 percent of government revenue and over 50 percent of the total excise duty collection.

It also employs some 10,000 people directly and indirectly in tobacco growing, cigarette manufacturing, marketing, distribution, retailing and in printing and packaging.

According to studies conducted by the Health ministry, 57.9 percent of Mauritian men and 7 percent of women were smokers in 1987.

In 1992, the figures dropped to 47 percent for men and 5 percent for women. The previous study conducted in 1998 showed that 47 percent of men and 3 percent of women were smokers.

Health officials said these figures were encouraging. "The rise in the prices of cigarettes every year and prevention campaign have helped people quit smoking," they said.