Tobacco Tax Increase Recommended by the Survey 2011

AKP Phnom Penh, May 24, 2011 –
Eighty two (82) percent of Cambodian adults think that tax and price of cigarette should be increased so as to discourage consumers of the product, said the National Adult Tobacco Survey 2011 officially made known on May 20.
With the sample of 15,615 Cambodia wide, the national survey was done by the Ministry of Planning’s National Institute of Statistics.
The finding adds that although the percentage of adult tobacco users declines from 48 percent to 42.5 percent between 2006 and 2011, the actual number does not decrease – making it a concern for Cambodia where approximately US$99 million has been spent annually on this harmful product.
There are still around 2 million tobacco users and 1.4 million adult tobacco smokers in the country of more than 14 millions of population.
Positively, 90 percent of surveyed adults support the use of health alert image on cigarette box as way to discourage consumers.
Representative of World Health Organization to Cambodia Pieter Van Maaren appreciates the effort and commitment of the Royal Government of Cambodia and concerned agencies to reduce tobacco consumption stressing that tax raising measures are very affective to achieve the goal and Cambodia still has low tobacco tax rates compared to other countries in the region.
By MOM Chan Dara Soleil