Rise of the female smoker in developing world

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMar 1 2011

Researchers report that there are millions of women in developing countries who are risking disease and early death in the coming decades as their rising economic and political status leads them to smoke more.

The report comes from analysis in 74 countries that notes that men are five times more likely to smoke than women in countries with lower rates of female empowerment, such as China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uganda. In China, for example, 61 percent of men are reported to be current smokers, compared with 4.2 percent of women. In countries with relatively high female empowerment, such as Australia, Canada, Norway, Sweden and the United States, this gap is small and women smoke almost as much as men do.

Douglas Bettcher, director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) tobacco free initiative feels that the figures showed the need for authorities to act quickly to curb smoking rates among women, particularly in poorer countries. He said in a statement with the study, which was published in the WHO journal Bulletin, “The tobacco epidemic is still in its early stages in many countries but is expected to worsen…Strong tobacco control measures such as bans on tobacco advertising are needed to prevent the tobacco industry from targeting women.”

Tobacco kills up to half its users and is described by the WHO “one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.” The annual death toll linked to tobacco is more than five million, experts say, and could rise beyond eight million by 2030 unless action is taken to control smoking.

Geoffrey Fong from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, who led Tuesday's study said, “Our study makes a strong case for implementing gender-specific tobacco control activities ... such as more higher tobacco taxes, more prominent graphic health warnings, smoke-free laws, and advertising and promotion bans.” Fellow researcher Sara Hitchman added that authorities should look closely at “the ways in which the tobacco industry is capitalizing on societal changes to target women, such as marketing cigarettes to women as a symbol of emancipation.” “Further research into patterns of uptake could help governments take more effective action and reduce adoption rates for smoking among women in the future,” added Hitchman.