Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)

To respond to the growing needs and requests concerning tobacco and health education, ADRA supported a community-level program in schools around Phnom Penh. The pilot phase of this “Tobacco-Free Kids” project was the first of its kind in Cambodia, and was planned and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Health with community awareness and education activities that received overwhelming public support. Tobacco-Free Lives continued the successful project activities with primary outputs being the development of new and creative educational materials and the development of a Khmer Quit Now! Smoking cessation program.

Project Goal

To decrease illness and premature death related to tobacco use in the Cambodian population.

Project Purpose

To increase the awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco use among youth and the adult population in Phnom Penh and rural areas, and provide smoking cessation programs, and to assist the government with implementation of tobacco implementation of tobacco prevention strategies through advocacy and legislation.

Project Objectives

Cambodian people, especially youth, in selected schools and communities will be aware of the harmful effects of tobacco and the benefits of remaining smoke-free, and empowered to choose a healthy, tobacco-free lifestyle.

Individuals who desire to quit smoking will be assisted to do so through the Khmer Quit Now! smoking cessation program and will act as positive smoke-free role models for Khmer youth.

Influential individuals and community, religious and political leaders are becoming aware of the dangers of smoking and the benefits of a tobacco-free lifestyle and are supporting public policy development and initiatives on tobacco education and control.

Latest Activities

TOH School Curriculum Development

Young Cambodians are bombarded with glamorous media messages that are aimed at convincing them to smoke: they see happy and rich western people- with a cigarette in their hand. But these ads twist the truth: first, tobacco consumption in western countries is decreasing. Second, smoking causes poverty, sickness and premature aging rather than the happiness, wealth and beauty promised. To counterbalance this misinformation the ASH project (Action on Smoking and Health) strives to increase the knowledge of young Cambodians about tobacco or health. The project aims to integrate tobacco or health messages into the sports curriculum of high schools in every corner of Cambodia. ASH has started a close cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Tobacco experts from the ToH Cambodia team up with school experts from the Ministry to create teaching materials that will encourage students to lead a smoke-free life.

Tobacco Control Information Resource Center

To fight against a limited access to health information the ASH-team is currently building up a tobacco control resource center. A wide range of material such as newspapers, books, brochures, leaflets, magazines, videos and tapes is already accessible to any interested person or organization (see IEC-material link on this page!). National and international resources are constantly collected, information is updated: If you are interested in our material (e.g. if you need teaching material or just look for general information) pay a visit to our office in Phnom Penh (see contact for the address and a detailed map) during working hours. You can also contact our Media Liaison Officer.

Women

While it is the men who are the smokers in Cambodia ToH aims at including women in all kinds of activities. Why? The answer is simple: women have an important role in educating their family. They do not only have a big influence on their children’s ideas about health but also on their husband’s. We want to encourage women to use this possibility and advocate for health and against tobacco in their own family. We want to give them the tools to do so because in the end it is the women and the children who will suffer if their husband, son, father loses his ability to work, his life…
See also the article “Smoking Makes Women Poorer” (link under construction).