http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/cambodia.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2011/08/09/tc.2010.042598.abstract?papetoc http://tobacco.org/news/324627.html Results Smoking in Cambodia is influenced by a variety of factors such as gender, marital status, age, ethnicity, literacy, health status and perceptions about the health consequences of tobacco use. The authors found that spending on tobacco crowds out expenditures on education and clothing at the national level and expenditures on food for low- and middle-income households. Conclusions The first analysis of the study showed that increased education is associated with lower daily smoking, and the second analysis revealed that expenditures on tobacco crowds out expenditures on education. Combining these two results points to a vicious circle where low education means higher likelihood of smoking, which in turn results in lower spending on education. Such budget allocation clearly has negative intergenerational consequences. Tobacco Control Cambodia Wed, 10 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=698330&publicationSubCategoryId=63 http://tobacco.org/news/321961.html President Aquino may need professional help to be able to quit smoking, an official of the Thailand-based Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) said. "Smoking is addictive. We cannot expect your President to quit smoking in a day or next month," said SEATCA director Bungon Ritthiphakdee in an interview during a regional workshop organized by the alliance in Siem Reap, Cambodia last week. The workshop was intended to discuss the implementation of Article 13 of the World Health Organization-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on tobacco advertisements, promotion and sponsorship in Southeast Asia. According to Ritthiphakdee, it may not be easy for a smoker like Aquino to give up cigarettes because they contain nicotine, an addictive substance. Philippine Star Philippines Cambodia Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=697312&publicationSubCategoryId=68 http://tobacco.org/news/321773.html SIEM REAP, Cambodia - Health experts yesterday warned against the use of sisha and the so-called e-cigarettes, claiming the devices are no different from real cigarettes in nicotine content. Dr. Susan Mercado, regional adviser for Tobacco-Free Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO)-Western Pacific Region Office, said sisha was proven to be harmful to health in a lot of international studies. "One hour of sisha exposure is equivalent to 100 cigarettes. It's quite toxic. It looks like it's not harmful but it is harmful," Mercado stressed. During the regional workshop on implementing Article 13 of the WHO-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control organized by Thailand-based Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance here, Mercado said the alternative methods of smoking have also been proven addictive because of their nicotine content. Philippine Star Asia Cambodia Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/society/7095/society-in-brief-15-4.html http://tobacco.org/news/318493.html Thousands of packs of cigarettes are smuggled into Ho Chi Minh City from Cambodia every day by bus from Long An. They are slipped in through the Duc Hue border in Long An in black plastic bags and loaded on bus No. 627 at Hau Nghia station headed for HCMC. The number of packs per trip sometimes reaches 5,000. The bus staff use cell phones to keep in touch together and even ignore passengers to focus on delivering the cigarettes. Vietnam Net evnn@vietnamnet.vn Vietnam Cambodia Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/features/article_1592123.php/Out-of-puff-Cambodia-s-slow-progress-in-combatting-tobacco-Feature http://tobacco.org/news/309183.html A decade ago a packet of Marlboro cigarettes cost just a dollar a pack in Cambodia, manna from heaven for a smoker who had lived in London where it was six times that price. Today that same packet costs 1 dollar and 5 cents, which is now one-10th the London price. Local brands start at just 20 cents. In short, smoking in Cambodia is - as in many developing countries - very cheap. Price goes a long way to explaining why this impoverished nation has one of the highest smoking rates in the region: Almost one Cambodian male in two above the age of 15 smokes. Among women the rate is lower - just 4 per cent smoke, but nearly one in five chews tobacco. So it is no surprise that health campaigners have cheered the government's progress towards meeting its obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) . . . But that progress is slow. A draft tobacco control law to regulate the industry in line with the FCTC is being batted about government committees and ministries, but it took seven years just to get there. Despite the delays, the proposed draft law is welcomed by Dr Yel Daravuth, tobacco control expert at the World Health Organization's office in Phnom Penh. Monsters and Critics Cambodia Mon, 18 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010101444012/National-news/tobacco-control-law-should-be-passed-by-2015-officials-say.html http://tobacco.org/news/309019.html THE government has set a 2015 deadline for the passage of a tobacco control law that was first drafted in 2003, officials said yesterday following a meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Tobacco Control. Ung Saran, deputy director of the government’s National Health Promotion Centre, said he “hoped” the law would be implemented by the 2015 deadline. He said the government was committed to tobacco-control reform, but that the passage of the law was complicated. “It takes a long time because it must go through many inter-ministerial committees,” he said. Mom Kong, the executive director of the NGO Cambodia Movement for Health, said yesterday that, among other regulations, the draft law proposed prohibiting smoking in workplaces and on public transport, banning tobacco advertising, and increasing taxes on tobacco products. He said he believed it would be possible to finalise the law before 2015. Phnom Penh Post Cambodia Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/New-Cambodia-Law-Aims-to-Raise-Awareness-About-Tobacco-102941264.html http://tobacco.org/news/307713.html Cambodia's government will soon ban tobacco advertising. That follows a law introduced in July requiring health warning labels on cigarette packs. Anti-smoking activists say Cambodia's plan to ban tobacco advertising and promotion is a key milestone in efforts to cut the nation's smoking rate. . . . British American Tobacco, or BAT, is one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world, and dominates Cambodia's market with a 35 percent share. BAT says it backs advertising restrictions and that the new law broadly matches BAT's own policies. The company says it does not market to youth or use celebrities in ads, for instance. The company also does not sponsor events unless those taking part and watching are adults. But BAT's restrictions are not followed by all players in the Cambodian market. . . . A short trip to a nearby supermarket makes his point. In July a law came into effect requiring every cigarette pack to carry a printed warning on the dangers of tobacco use, printed across 30 percent of the pack. BAT complied, but two months on a casual scan of the cigarette shelf shows that most of its competitors have not. VOANews.com Cambodia Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.vsointernational.org/news/800062977/tobacco-advertising-ban-will-significantly-improve-cambodian-health-outcomes http://tobacco.org/news/307655.html Moves to ban tobacco advertising in Cambodia would be a major step forward in improving the health of the country's residents. So claims Mom Kong, executive director of non-government organisation the Cambodia Movement for Health, who states that plans by the government to introduce regulations against all tobacco-related advertising and promotions next year will play a crucial role in stopping would-be smokers from developing the habit. "Tobacco advertising helps to attract children to smoking and makes it difficult for smokers to quit. Banning advertising would be an effective measure to prevent youth and children from smoking," he tells Inter Press Service. Doing so would see the Cambodian government meet a key element of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Voluntary Service Overseas - VSO International yourfriend@example.com Cambodia Mon, 13 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010090341757/Business/tobacco-gets-duty-free-boost.html http://tobacco.org/news/307320.html VIETNAM will allow duty-free imports of Cambodian tobacco later this month, as part of agreement set to revive the industry and save it US$2.4 million a year. The move comes after a three-year deal – that enabled Cambodia to send 3,000 tonnes of tobacco leaf to Vietnam duty-free each year – expired at the end of 2009, a senior commerce official said yesterday. When that deal ended, distributors hit by duties of around US$800 per tonne had less demand for domestic crops – cutting the price of tobacco by around 50 percent, affecting the Kingdom’s farmers. The new deal will renew duty-free quotas for 2010 and 2011, a move farmers and tobacco buyers alike have welcomed. Phnom Penh Post Vietnam Cambodia Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://khmerweekly.com/2010/09/01/proposed-sub-decree-banning-advertising-of-tobacco/?utm_source=Cambodia&utm_medium=twitter http://tobacco.org/news/307104.html Yesterday, Cambodia’s authorities from the Ministry of Health and the inter-ministerial committee for tobacco control were discussing on a proposed sub-decree banning advertising and promotion of tobacco products in the Kingdom of Cambodia. And the proposed sub-decree would be sent to the Council of Ministers soon. Cambodia ratified the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention Tobacco Control in November 2005, which demands member statutes institute a comprehensive ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship with five years of ratification. Khmer Weekly Cambodia Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.adra.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10875&news_iv_ctrl=1141 http://tobacco.org/news/299475.html Strong tobacco control laws could be implemented in Cambodia as a result of ongoing advocacy efforts led by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and other partnering organizations, the agency reported. In early March, representatives from the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Cambodian Inter-Ministerial Committee for Tobacco Control, and other key leaders met with ADRA and partnering non-governmental organizations during an ADRA-sponsored two-day event to discuss a draft law on tobacco control. During the meetings, participants agreed to work toward the creation of six key strategies that once implemented will enable effective tobacco control throughout the country. These recommendations, which are expected to be distributed among key government stakeholders, would fulfill the commitment to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Adventist Development and Relief Agency International John.Torres@adra.org Cambodia Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010030533123/National-news/ngos-outline-anti-smoking-goals.html http://tobacco.org/news/298011.html HEALTH officials and NGOs have formulated six recommendations for the government to step up its anti-smoking efforts, as a national seminar on tobacco control wound up in Phnom Penh on Thursday. Lim Sareth, a health promotion officer from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), said 82 government officials and 50 NGO representatives joined the two-day seminar, which discussed strategies for controlling tobacco use in the Kingdom. At the end of the seminar, officials presented six main strategies for reducing the health impacts of cigarette smoking. Among these were a higher tax on tobacco products, photographic warning labels on cigarette packages, a blanket ban on tobacco advertising, and public education programmes focusing on the negative effects of tobacco. Phnom Penh Post Cambodia Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=479100 http://tobacco.org/news/297800.html The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) will provide Southeast Asian policymakers with research-based evidence on improving tax systems for tobacco control in five targeted countries. The research will be funded by a five-year US$7 million (RM23.7 million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and will focus on tobacco tax control in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam. Director of the Bangkok-based SEATCA, Bungon Ritthiphakdee said higher taxes on tobacco led to higher prices for tobacco products, which immediately discouraged non-smokers from starting and current smokers from continuing with their harmful habit. Malaysian National News Agency ramjit@bernama.com (Ramjit) Indonesia Philippines Vietnam Cambodia Laos Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iB1cIscBHYAqB7ueQEAWFc9aFIyAD9CBS2L00 http://tobacco.org/news/293654.html When pregnant Cambodian women suffer morning sickness, they often reach for an unlikely source of relief: a wad of chewing tobacco. Many become hooked, and the World Health Organization warned Thursday it is a tradition putting the health of both mothers and babies at risk. The largest tobacco survey ever conducted in Cambodia found that about half of all women older than 48 regularly chew tobacco, and about one in five rural women first took up the habit during pregnancy, to soothe their prenatal nausea. The survey conducted by WHO and other researchers found that midwives are the country's biggest users of smokeless tobacco, with 68 percent chewing it. About half of traditional female healers use it as well. "Chewing tobacco appears to be strongly influenced by beliefs passed on by older relatives," lead author, Dr. Pramil N. Singh from Loma Linda University in California, said in a statement. "The behavior is seen as a rite of passage into womanhood. Further research is needed to find out whether village health workers actively promote its medicinal use." Associated Press Cambodia Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009101929030/National-news/sub-decree-orders-visual-warnings-on-cigarette-packages.html http://tobacco.org/news/291404.html THE Council of Ministers is to make graphic new warning labels on cigarette packages mandatory – part of a plan aimed at combating one of the world’s leading killers. The visual warning labels will be mandatory on all cigarette packets sold in Cambodia, with the graphics occupying no less than 30 percent of the packaging space, according to a press release from the Council of Ministers, which on Friday adopted a sub-decree ordering the new warnings. Phnom Penh Post Cambodia Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT