A non-governmental organization, the Cambodia Movement for Health has said that more than 15,000 people died from smoking every year in Cambodia.
Mom Kong, executive director of the organization stated this on Thursday.
Kong cited a recent survey by the Ministry of Health, which estimated that 1.6 million adults are cigarette smokers or 13 percent of the kingdom’s adults aged 15 years old and above.
“The rate of adult cigarette smokers had dropped by 4 percent 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.
