Danger of tobacco smoking: Over 15,000 die annually in Cambodia

Mom Kong, executive director of the local non-governmental organisation, the Cambodia Movement for Health on Thursday said more than 15,000 people died from smoking every year in Cambodia.

According to a recent survey by the Ministry of Health, there are an estimated 1.6 million adult cigarette smokers or 13 per cent of the kingdom’s adults aged 15 years old and above, Kong said.

“The rate of adult cigarette smokers had dropped by 4 per cent between 2014 and 2022,” he told Xinhua.

Kong said it is estimated that Cambodian smokers spent 235 million U.S. dollars a year on cigarettes and tobacco.

He added that tobacco users in rural areas were likely to spend more money buying tobacco products than those in urban areas.

Kong said if the government increases taxes on tobacco products, it is believed that the death toll from tobacco-related diseases will be further reduced.

He added that tobacco users are at risk of morbidity and early mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, and many other tobacco-attributable diseases.

“According to a United Nations study, tobacco-related illnesses cost Cambodia’s economy 657 million dollars a year,” Kong said.

(Xinhua/NAN)