Cambodian Students March to
Break the Tobacco Marketing Trap

Since May 1998, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has been celebrating World No Tobacco Day in Cambodia cooperating with the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization. Since the global focus in 2008 is “Tobacco-Free Youth,” ADRA Cambodia began 2008 World No Tobacco Day activities on May 9 through joint action with six schools in Phnom Penh along the six major highways leading out of Phnom Penh. From May 22 to 30, five more events were held at an additional five schools in five provinces where ADRA has programs (Pursat, Siem Reap, Kompong Thom, Preah Vihear and Kampong Cham).


Sporting shirts and hats with the message, “Break the Tobacco Marketing Trap - Bombaeak An’teat Ti P’saa Barei” 2,100 persons, including 1,705 high school students, participated in eleven programs held from May 9 to May 31. Two of the schools also declared themselves smoke free in the ceremonies. The national TV networks, Radio networks and newspapers broadcast all the events. All the staff and students from each school as well as both national and community leaders and local NGO partners participated in the celebrations which began with matching along the roads, markets, and near local government institutions.

Speakers in the programs shared that tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. The tobacco industry spends tens of billions of dollars worldwide annually in marketing their deadly products to bring new, young, and hopefully life-long tobacco users into the market in order to replace those who die. Adolescent experimentation with this highly addictive product, aggressively pushed by the tobacco industry, can easily lead to a lifetime of tobacco dependence. One of the most effective ways to protect young people from the harms of tobacco use is to ban all advertising or promotion of tobacco products, and the sponsorship by the tobacco industry of any events or activities.

Community and Provincial leaders were reminded that today in Cambodia there are all kinds of advertising methods that are enticing teenagers to smoke. These include concerts, rewards inside cigarette packages, free promotion, and advertisement through TV, radio, and the omnipresent billboards and posters.

At each of the events youth learned that Cambodia ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on November 15, 2005, but until now there is no tobacco control law as committed through FCTC ratification therefore cigarette marketing still flows free and un-checked in Cambodia. In joining the marches, youth contributed to advocacy urging the Cambodian National Assembly to pass the law in time to save the lives of today’s youth as they are the backbone of the nation in future.

During two hours of TV programming with the two most popular Cambodian TV stations on May 22 and 29, ADRA, WHO, the Cambodia Movement for Health Organization and the Ministry of Health were able to share with the nation and policy makers about how these 11 tobacco free youth events showcase the dangers of the tobacco marketing traps pulling young people into harmful smoking habits and the need for public and policy makers to support the tobacco law to break these marketing schemes. The annual advocacy event will be completed with a recap of the events on the ADRA weekly Tobacco or Health Radio Talk Show on June 3rd.

ADRA in Cambodia is working in Tobacco Control in partnership with the Ministry of Health and other non government organizations and is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency through ADRA Canada in the Cambodian Action for Policy on Smoking and Health project.