title: Point-of-sale tobacco advertising in Beirut, Lebanon following a national advertising ban.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study was to conduct an audit of point-of-sale (POS) tobacco advertising and assess compliance with an advertising ban in a large district of Beirut, Lebanon.
  
  
  METHODS
  The audit was conducted 3 months following the ban on tobacco advertising. Trained students observed all tobacco retail outlets (n = 100) and entered data into a web-based form using iPad(®) technology. Presence of tobacco advertisements was assessed to determine compliance with the national advertising ban.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 100 tobacco retail outlets, 62% had tobacco advertisements, including 7% with a tobacco brand logo as part of the main exterior store sign.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  POS tobacco advertising is widespread in Beirut despite the national advertising ban. These findings point to an urgent need for the enforcement of the advertisement ban with tobacco retail outlets in Lebanon.
authors.affiliation: Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1102F McGavran-Greenberg, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. ramzi.salloum@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Ramzi G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Salloum
authors.forename: Rima T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Nakkash
authors.forename: Allison E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Kathryn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Kurt M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ribisl
mesh_terms: D005375:Financial Audit; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon; D040541:Marketing; D011640:Public Policy; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D019460:Tobacco Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000191:economics*