quit smoking

 

women and cigarettes

 

 the Surgeon General reports on the Health related dangers of Smoking Among U.S. Women and Girls

Developed by HHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to document the impact of smoking on women’s health in the United States, the report also provides analyses of the global impact of smoking on women.

 

"We estimate that smoking prevalence among women varies markedly worldwide from as low as 7 percent in developing countries to 24 percent in developed countries," CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan said. "The rise in smoking among women around the world has coincided with aggressive Western-style tobacco advertising. One of the most common themes used in developing countries is that smoking is both a passport to and a symbol of a woman’s emancipation, independence, and success."

Dr. Koplan added, "We have firm evidence of a direct association between tobacco marketing and smoking prevalence. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission reported that cigarette companies spent $8.24 billion on advertising and promotions in 1999 in the United States, a 22.3 percent increase from the $6.73 billion spent in 1998. Fortunately, we have proven science-based evidence that counter-marketing strategies can be a powerful tool to change social norms. The CDC is committed to working globally to create a broad framework to curb the global epidemic of tobacco-related disease, particularly as it relates to women and young people."

The report outlines key solutions for preventing and reducing smoking among women, including:
  • Encouraging quitting for women of all ages. Quitting results in immediate health benefits for both light and heavy smokers, including improvements in breathing and circulation. The excess risk of coronary heart disease is substantially reduced after one or two years of smoking cessation. The increased risk for stroke associated with smoking is reversible after quitting smoking. When smokers quit, their lungs begin to heal and their risk of lung disease drops. Smoking cessation also improves quality of life and physical functioning.
  • Implementing science-based smoking cessation interventions into widespread clinical practice. This action would be as cost-effective as other medical interventions such as mammography and treatment of high blood pressure.
 
  •  Encouraging a more vocal constituency on issues related to women and smoking. Concerted efforts are needed from women’s and girls’ organizations, women’s magazines, public health policymakers, medical groups, and volunteer organizations to call public attention to lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases among women, and to call for policies and programs that deglamorize and discourage tobacco use. This effort should draw from the success of advocacy campaigns to reduce breast cancer.

     

  •  Enacting comprehensive statewide tobacco control programs. Results from states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oregon show that science-based tobacco control programs have successfully reduced smoking rates among women and girls. California is now starting to observe the dramatic public health benefits of its sustained efforts. Between 1988 and 1997, the incidence rate of lung cancer among women declined by 4.8 percent in California but increased by 13.2 percent in other regions of the United States.

"Despite the overwhelming evidence of effective tobacco use intervention strategies, we clearly have a long way to go to meet our public health objectives of cutting smoking in half among women and girls," Dr. Satcher said. "We know more than enough to prevent and reduce tobacco use. Now we must commit the attention and resources to translate this knowledge into action to save women’s lives."

A full copy of Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General and other related information is available on the CDC’s Web site: Copies of the Executive Summary and the report’s "At A Glance" can also be ordered via fax by calling 1-800-CDC-1311 or by writing the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, Mail Stop K-50, 4770 Buford Highway, Atlanta, Ga. 30341. A special consumer-focused section on quitting smoking is now available on the National Women’s Health Information Center Web site, http://www.4woman.gov, sponsored by the HHS Office on Women’s Health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protects people's health and safety by preventing and controlling diseases and injuries; enhances health decisions by providing credible information on critical health issues; and promotes healthy living through strong partnerships with local, national, and international organizations.

Click here to read the first part of this article.

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