WHO’s No Tobacco Day targets women who smoke

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched No Tobacco Day on May 31 by focusing on the harm to women’s health caused by tobacco.

“Tobacco kills over five million people each year including approximately 1.5 million women,” the WHO said. “Approximately three-quarters of these female deaths would occur in low-income and middle-income countries.”

Women comprise 64 percent of the 600,000 deaths a year caused by second-hand smoking, the WHO said.

Potential health risks to women who smoking include infertility and delays in conceiving, as well as risks of premature delivery, stillbirth and newborn death, the WHO said.

“Women who smoke are at increased risk of developing potentially fatal chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.”

Smoking also “increases the risk of cancer in women, including cancers of the mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, larynx, bladder, pancreas, kidneys and cervix, as well as for acute myeloid leukaemia. There is a possible link between active smoking and premenopausal breast cancer.”

The WHO condemned tobacco advertisements that associated smoking with female beauty, empowerment and health, noting that such advertisements “lure women with such misleading identifiers as ‘light’ or ‘low-tar’, implying that such produces are less deadly. More women than men smoke ‘light’ cigarettes.”