Kyrgyz ban tobacco and alcohol adverts

The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has become one of the first countries in the world to order a complete ban on advertising alcohol or tobacco.

Local authorities have been told to remove all the hundreds of huge bill-boards promoting drinks or cigarettes within a month, under a government decree banning advertising products alien to Kyrgyz traditions.

The decree said alcohol and tobacco-related diseases have become more frequent in Kyrgyzstan and smoking among teenagers has increased, as a result of the explosion of western-style advertising since independence from the former Soviet Union.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service