Written by DAP NEWS -- Saturday, 17 October 2009
(Posted by CAAI News Media)
A Cabinet meeting on Friday approved to inclusion of health warnings on cigarette packets. The warnings, which will take up 30 percent of the front of the cigarette box, will alert smokers to impact of smok- ing on health, according to a newly-approved sub decree.
“The meeting has approved the sub decree on printing health warning on cigarette packages which prepared by the Cambodia’s Health Ministry,” according to a press statement from the Office of the Spokesman of the Council of Ministers yesterday.
The statement added that the sub decree was “to remind smokers and people to better understand the impacts of smoking to their health, and it also to prevent advertising of low quality and smoke advantages of tobacco companies.”
Deputy Director of National Center for Health Promotion Sung Vinntak said that the sub-decree approved on Friday is one of the National Health Strategies to improve Cambodia’s health.
“I believe that the sub decree will help Cambodia to reduce the number of smokers after the warnings are printed,” he added.
Vinntak noted that a 2008 survey by a local NGO found that Cambodi- ans spend nearly US$70 million cigarettes. The survey found that 48 percent of more than 18-year-old men and 3.6 percent of 18-year-old women smoke. He said that there are currently no data on smoking-related deaths. Tobacco is the global second leading cause of death, currently responsible for the deaths of one in ten adults worldwide, or about 5 million deaths each year. If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today—about 650 million people—will eventually be killed by tobacco. Each day in the WHO Western Pacific Region, 3,000 people die from tobacco use.
“Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives,” said WHO Assistant Director-General Dr. Ala Alwan. “But they only work if they communicate the risk. Warnings that include images of the harm that tobacco causes are particularly effective at communicating risk and motivating behavioral changes, such as quitting or reducing tobacco consumption.”
Only 10 percent of the world’s population lives in countries that require warnings with pictures on tobacco packages.
“In order to survive, the tobacco industry needs to divert attention from the deadly effects of its products,” alleged Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative. “It uses multi-million-dollar promotional campaigns, including carefully crafted package designs, to ensnare new users and keep them from quitting.” “Health warnings on tobacco packages can be a powerful tool to illuminate the stark reality of tobacco use,” he added.
Permanent Deputy Prime Minster Men Sam On presided over the weekly meeting of Council of Ministers, standing in for Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen who is attending an exhibition in China for three days.
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