The use of tobacco products pollutes the environment due to chemicals and waste materials discarded after their use or during their manufacture, according to a Ministry of Health official.
Chhea Chhordaphea – director of the ministry’s National Centre for Health Promotion and a member of the tobacco control committee – was speaking on World No Tobacco Day, observed on May 31 this year under the theme “Tobacco is threatening our environment”.
Chhordaphea said the use of tobacco not only harms people’s health and the economy, but also the environment.
“[Around] 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded every year, which is detrimental to the environment. Tobacco contains greenhouse gases that cause pollution and global warming – the three main ones found in tobacco are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrate,” she said.
She said a cigarette could emit 14g of carbon dioxide, which meant tobacco products emitted 84 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. These were major ways in which tobacco use had a negative impact on the environment.
She also mentioned that tobacco use causes major health risk factors and causes many non-communicable diseases like lung cancer, chronic pneumonia, chronic respiratory diseases, asthma and cardiovascular disease, among others. People who do not smoke themselves but inhale second-hand smoke also suffer from many health effects.
According to Chhordaphea, tobacco product use remains a major public health problem in Cambodia, with an estimated two million people over the age of 18 regularly using them. Around 1.8 million people smoke cigarettes, spending almost $202 million on purchasing tobacco products. The cost of medical treatment and the loss of productivity caused by tobacco use are estimated to cost the Kingdom $162.7 million a year, she noted.
About 60 per cent of the population is exposed to second-hand smoke, either in the workplace or in public spaces, she added.
The tobacco control committee – chaired by health minister Mam Bun Heng – has reduced the use of tobacco by introducing new laws and regulations.
In 2021 the committee has launched a five-year strategic plan to educate the public and reduce the use of tobacco products by 2026.
Kep provincial governor Som Piseth, who also spoke at the World No Tobacco Day ceremony, called on authorities at all levels in the province – and students – to jointly promote extensive tobacco controls.
“We must work together to promote smoke-free workplaces and public spaces, and ban the sale of cigarettes without health warning messages. Cigarette advertising should be eliminated, along with tobacco sponsorship. We aim to make Kep a beautiful smoke-free province, with a population that are healthy for life,” he said.
Piseth said that although Kep has achieved some progress in its goals, it still faced some challenges. He acknowledged that measures to ban tobacco promotions were not yet fully implemented.
“Some packaging violates the sub-decree which states that health warning messages in the Khmer language – with images – must cover 55 per cent of the packet. There are still advertisements on banners and on vehicles. And there are still [young] women hired by tobacco companies to promote various brands in the province,” he said.
Nargiza Khodjaeva, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Cambodia, said that approximately eight million people worldwide die from tobacco use each year. In Cambodia, that figure is about 15,000.
“Tobacco is not only destroying our health and harming our human friends, but is destroying our planet. This year’s theme, which is about tobacco threatening the environment, is a really important message for us to hear,” she said.