Countries Urged To Prevent Smoking Epidemic Among Women.

2001 JUL 5 - (NewsRx Network) -- A WHO monograph highlights exposure to second-hand smoke and rising tobacco use among women worldwide as serious problems that will lead to substantial increases in tobacco-related diseases among women.

Countries are urged to respond to aggressive tobacco marketing and promotion, which are among the factors leading to a potential epidemic of tobacco-related diseases among women. Countries must also adopt a wide range of tobacco control measures, including bans on public smoking, and bans on tobacco marketing and promotion if they want to avert this epidemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) monograph.

Tobacco-related diseases are on the rise among women, particularly young women, said the monograph, titled "Women and the Tobacco Epidemic - Challenges for the 21st Century." This is not only because more and more women are starting to use tobacco products but also due to the fact that millions of women are exposed to second-hand smoke on a daily basis.

"Second-hand smoke is an important women's issue." said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland of the WHO. "Women everywhere are exposed to second-hand smoke and suffer serious health consequences because of it. In the Asian region where, on average. more than 60% of men are smokers, this means millions of women and children suffer from second-hand smoke. New evidence shows that parental smoking contributes to higher rates of sudden infant death syndrome as well as asthma. Bronchitis, colds, and pneumonia in children. We must do everything we can to protect women and children's rights to a safe and healthy environment." she added.

Global estimates indicate that about 12% of women smoke compared with about 48% of men. This gap represents an opportunity, but one that must be grabbed quickly if countries are to prevent the epidemic of tobacco deaths that are being seen among men today, says the monograph. In some countries, the rate of smoking among women is already as high as 24%. In countries with high rates of female tobacco use, women are dying of tobacco-related diseases just as the men are.

Women in the United States, for instance, began to take up smoking in large numbers during the 1950s. Today, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States, surpassing breast cancer. Increasing use of tobacco is now a global trend as aggressive marketing and promotion moved from developed countries and entered developing countries and economies in transition, said the monograph.

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