Cambodia has released a smoking ban in workplaces and public places, including educational institutions, public transports, museums, gas stations, playgrounds, religious areas, and so on, according to local media.

According to AKP news agency, the circular on the banning of smoking was disseminated by the Ministry of Health in a seminar recently held in Phnom Penh under the presidency of Minister of Health Mam Bunheng and Representative of the World Health Organization to Cambodia Pieter Van Maaren.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Planning in 2011 showed that some 90 percent of Cambodian people are exposed to smoke at restaurants, 60 percent at public transports, and about 50 percent at workplaces.

Some 10,000 Cambodian people die from tobacco-related diseases every year, or about 30 people a day, added the survey.

Cambodians spend each year approximately 100 million USD to buy tobacco, and millions of USD for tobacco-related diseases, especially cancer, Minister Mam Bunheng was quoted as saying at the seminar.-VNA