Taking a lesson from the success of advocacy to reduce breast cancer, concerted efforts are needed to call public attention to the toll that lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases are exacting on women's health and to demand accountability on the part of the tobacco industry.
Women affected by tobacco-related diseases and their families and friends can partner with women's and girls' organizations, women's magazines, female celebrities, and others not only to raise awareness of tobacco-related disease as a women's issue, but also to call for policies and programs that de-glamorize and discourage tobacco use.
Although in recent years smoking prevalence has not declined as much as might be hoped, nearly four-fifths of U.S. women are nonsmokers. In some subgroups of the population, smoking is relatively rare.
Despite the positive images of women in tobacco advertisements, it is important to recognize that among adult women, those who are the most empowered, as measured by educational attainment, are the least likely to be smokers.
Most women who do smoke say they would like to quit. The fact that almost all women have either rejected smoking for themselves or, if they do smoke now, wish to quit, should be promoted.
Source: Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General—2001 |
