10 countries have 10 percent of smokers

The 10 ASEAN countries are home to 10 percent of the world’s 1.25 billion adult smokers, according to an InterAksyon.com (TV 5—Philippines) story quoting a statement by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).

Based on figures in the 2013 ASEAN Tobacco Control Atlas, 30 percent of the adults in the region are “current smokers.”

“Despite adopting various tobacco control policies and laws, many countries still face numerous challenges in decreasing tobacco consumption to minimize the health and economic burden from tobacco use,” said SEATCA Director Bungon Ritthiphakdee.

[Tobacco companies] “are continually expanding their business in ASEAN countries, planning to sell more cigarettes, targeting more boys and girls for addiction and interfering in all levels of tobacco control policy development and implementation,” she said.

The report showed that male smoking prevalence was highest in Indonesia at 67.4 percent and lowest in Singapore at 23.7 percent.

The female smoking rate was said to be “particularly high”—more than 5 percent—in Myanmar, the Philippines and Laos.