The Cambodian Ministry of Education has just issued strict guidelines to prevent the sale and use of electronic nicotine delivery devices in public and private educational institutions amid concerns about rising youth vaping.

The ministry's directive, issued by Minister Hang Chuon Naron, is aimed at preventing the use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, citing the devices' harmful effects on people's health, risk to cardiovascular and respiratory health, and developing adolescent brains.

The new guidelines prohibit the use, distribution and promotion of these products on campus and in surrounding areas, and the Department of Education is urging all relevant educational units to work with parents, guardians, educators and students to identify and report any e-cigarette sales and distribution sites.

Health ministry spokesman Ly Sovann said e-cigarettes are toxic and addictive. The Ministry of Health has banned the import and use of products such as hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in Cambodia. But sadly, the relative benefits of these products as safer alternatives to cigarettes and smoking cessation tools are completely ignored.

Meanwhile, Cambodia’s Ministry of Health in December 2020 asked tobacco companies to change existing health warnings to new ones identified by the Ministry of Health, but that did not happen. In July 2021, the ministry reiterated that the standard must be enforced.

The Cambodian Health Movement (CMH) explained that the Ministry of Health has indicated that warnings should be changed every two years. Consistent with this, tobacco companies were supposed to change their health warning labels in December 2020, but that did not happen.

To that end, CMH reiterated last year that, from August 2021, all cigarette packages must feature new text and images as determined by the Ministry of Health. "If the picture is not changed, the effectiveness of the health warning will be reduced because people have become accustomed to the same picture. Therefore, the Ministry of Health has decided that the health warning must be changed every two years," CMH said.