Tobacco sets sights on poor countries

WHO-published study documents 'intense, aggressive' marketing

Faced with falling sales in richer nations, the tobacco industry has increasingly marketed its products in the developing world, where restrictions on promoting smoking are more relaxed, a new study said on Tuesday.

The study, which looked at tobacco marketing in 462 communities spread across 16 countries, was published by the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, a journal created by the UN agency but whose contents do not reflect WHO's views.