Tobacco control policy to receive enormous support in Cambodia

A recent survey by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) showed that a tobacco control policy will receive enormous support in Cambodia, local media said on Wednesday.

Over 90 percent interviewers supported the government's adoption of a law on tobacco control, according to the survey of a sample of 144 staff members from the ministries of Education, Youth and Sport, Women's Affairs, and Defense across the country.

It also found that more than 96 percent of the respondents wanted a ban on cigarette advertising, reported Cambodian daily newspaper the Koh Santepheap.

The survey aimed to encourage the government to push for an immediate adoption of such a law, reported another Cambodian daily newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey.

According to official statistics, more than 70 percent of the Cambodian families spend over 10 percent of their incomes on cigarettes and a pack of locally produced cigarettes costs as much as one kilogram of husked rice.

The World Health Organization (WHO) once stated that each year about 5 million people die of tobacco-related diseases worldwide and the figure could increase to 10 million by 2020.

Source: Xinhua .