More women falling prey to tobacco company ploys

By STEPHANIE NEBEHAY

GENEVA - About 12 per cent of women in the world are estimated to smoke compared with about 48 per cent of men, but the World Health Organisation says the gap is narrowing.

Young women are seduced by marketing by cigarette companies which offer "female brands," low prices and free samples, according to the WHO report "Women and the Tobacco Epidemic - Challenges for the 21st Century."

WHO reported higher rates of smoking among young females in countries including Japan, Germany, and the United States.

"Most alarming, the rates of smoking are increasing among youth and young women in several regions of the world," WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland said.

"Women everywhere are exposed to second-hand smoke and suffer serious health consequences because of it," she said, noting that more than 60 per cent of Asian men are smokers, meaning millions of women and children inhale polluted air.

Brundtland, a medical doctor and former Norwegian prime minister, added: "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."

The United Nations agency called for strong measures, including bans on public smoking and tobacco advertising as well as higher taxes on tobacco.

The report, released ahead of "World No Tobacco Day" on Thursday, is the latest shot fired by the Geneva-based agency heading a global anti-tobacco campaign.

It has accused the $US400 billion ($956 billion) industry of covering up the harmful effects of tobacco and its addictive nature for decades and of still using misleading labels designed to ensnare women.

WHO's 191 member states are negotiating an international treaty on tobacco control, including restrictions on advertising and gradual elimination of sponsorship of sporting events by cigarette companies. The pact is due to be in place by 2003.

WHO estimates that four million people die every year from tobacco-related diseases - 11,000 victims every day - through cancer, bronchitis, emphysema and cardiovascular diseases. It warns that the toll could double by 2020, with more than 70 per cent of the victims in the developing world.

Women of child-bearing age are particularly vulnerable, according to WHO.

- REUTERS