PHNOM PENH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) — Cambodia’s Ministry of Health warned on Sunday that e-cigarettes, shisha and heated tobacco products (HTPs) have caused serious effects on users’ health, urging people, especially youth, not to try these products.
“The Ministry of Health is very concerned that most e-cigarettes, shisha and HTPs are beautifully designed, attractive to young people to try,” the ministry said in a statement.
Although the country has banned the import, trade and use of e-cigarettes, shisha and HTPs since 2014, some opportunists still sell these products on social media platforms with exaggerated content claiming that they are a tool to quit smoking and safer than cigarettes, the statement said.
“In fact, e-cigarettes, shisha and HTPs have really caused hazards to health and society,” it said.
E-cigarettes and HTPs highly contain nicotine that could have a more serious impact on health than cigarettes and these products are used with marijuana and other drugs, while shisha contains high levels of toxins, the statement said.
These products could cause serious lung disease, lung cancer, heart disease, damage to brain development, premature birth, infertility, stomach cancer and bladder cancer, it added.
“The Ministry of Health calls on young people not to try these products even once, and do not believe any ads that claim e-cigarettes, shisha and HTPs are a tool to quit smoking,” the statement said.
