Around 66 percent of respondents to a recent survey conducted by Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said smoking should be banned in public places, according to Saturday's The Himalayan Times daily.

Whereas 75.9 percent of the respondents said sell of tobacco and tobacco products to pregnant women should be banned.

The survey was conducted in Kathmandu Valley among 1,500 respondents with a view to knowing the public response towards Tobacco Control and Regulatory Bill, 2010.

On June 13, 2006 and Oct. 21, 2009, the Supreme Court had asked government to ban smoking at public places, public vehicles, health organizations, child welfare and child care institutions and educational institutions, among others.

At present, Tobacco Control and Regulatory Act-2010 is awaiting a final approval at parliament. As soon as parliament endorses the act, the government will ban smoking or using tobacco in public areas with punishment enforced for the offense.

The bill has also proposed ban on advertisements and publicity of tobacco products in media and gatherings

According to MoHP, Nepal collected around 3.77 billion Nepali rupees (some 51 million U.S. dollars) in revenue from tobacco products last year whereas it spent some 47 billion rupees (some 635 million dollars) for the treatment of tobacco related disease.

In Nepal, over 25,000 people die every year due to tobacco related disease.