BUJUMBURA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- As the world marked the World No Tobacco Day on Friday, a survey conducted in Burundi shows that one third of cancer cases in the country are due to tobacco consumption or cigarette smoking, a Burundian government spokesman said Friday.

A recent demography survey done in the east African country shows that 1 percent of Burundian women and girls use tobacco, and 11 percent of Burundian men consume tobacco, Jean Bosco Girukwishaka, Burundian health ministry spokesman, told Xinhua in a phone interview on Burundi's situation of tobacco consumption.

Out of the country's 18 provinces, Karusi has the highest percentage of female smokers at 6 percent, while 19 percent of men in Muyinga smoke, the highest ratio in the country.

"Those figures show that tobacco is consumed by a big number of the Burundian population. They also show that tobacco is a big threat to the health of Burundian people," he said.

Tobacco consumption can be avoided by avoiding tobacco users or by going to seek the advice of physicians, he added. Enditem

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