MONTEVIDEO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The rate of tobacco consumption has continued to fall steadily in Uruguay from 25 percent of those aged over 15 in 2009 to 21.6 percent in 2017, according to new research published by the Ministry of Public Health (MSP).

On Wednesday, the director of the MSP's tobacco control program, Enrique Soto, said that government campaigns against tobacco since 2005 had been instrumental.

The successful drop was revealed in the latest edition of the WHO's Global Adult Tobacco Survey, considered the most reliable international indicator of smoking rates.

"Uruguay was one of the countries with the highest rate of smoking in the region," said Soto. "However...it started implementing specific policies in 2005 and in 2008 passed a norm to regulate non-smoking spaces."

The country has also passed a series of actions, including reducing the size of logos on cigarette boxes, banning sponsorship and advertising by tobacco companies and restricting places where smoking was allowed.

The parliament is also considering a law to implement neutral packaging.