Phnom Penh – Tobacco-related illnesses claimed about 15,000 lives in Cambodia a year, costing the country’s economy 657 million U.S. dollars, or three percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), said a United Nations-led new study released on Thursday.
“These costs are due to health care expenditures and ‘hidden’ productivity losses from premature mortality, disabilities and smoking breaks,” said a joint statement publicized during the launching ceremony of a study report on health and economic costs of tobacco use in Cambodia.
Other than the health and economic costs of tobacco use, the study also estimated the potential health and economic gains from scaled up implementation of evidence-based tobacco control measures, the statement said.
In full: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/04/c_138198657.htm
