Quit Smoking ... Tobacco Companies Targeting Women and Girls

Category Stop Smoking, Smoking Health Risks, How To Quit Smoking, Kicking the habit, Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy ...

Women more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens, new results show

Women may be more vulnerable to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, according to new results reported at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland. European Society for Medical Oncology 05 09

The tobacco industry has unleashed its most aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at women and girls in over a decade, according to a report issued by a coalition of public health organizations. The report warns that these new marketing campaigns are putting the health of women and girls at risk and urges Congress to regulate tobacco marketing by passing legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products.

In the last two years, the two largest tobacco companies have launched new marketing campaigns that depict cigarette smoking as feminine and fashionable, rather than the harmful and deadly addiction it really is.

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of women, having surpassed breast cancer in 1987, and smoking puts women and girls at greater risk of a wide range of deadly diseases, including heart attacks, strokes, emphysema and numerous cancers.

"These new marketing campaigns show contempt for the health of women and girls," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "The tobacco industry's aggressive marketing demands an equally aggressive response from our nation's elected leaders. By granting the FDA authority over tobacco products, the Congress can crack down on the industry's most harmful practices." Despite being the nation's number one cause of preventable death, tobacco products currently are virtually exempt from regulation.

"Big Tobacco's blatant targeting of women is just an extension of a decades-long campaign of fraud and deception designed to addict children and adults to its deadly products," said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). "Congress must empower the FDA to regulate tobacco products to put a stop to the harmful practices of an industry that has had free reign for far too long."

"This report is a sober reminder that the tobacco industry has become more aggressive in marketing deadly products to women," said Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association. "Hip and trendy packages cannot disguise the health hazards of smoking and the risk for heart disease and stroke. We must give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to rein in the industry's relentless campaign to manipulate young women with products that send the wrong message."

"It is unconscionable for tobacco companies to market these lethal products to women and equate them with fashion, femininity and independence," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "Virtually all lung cancer deaths and a large portion of heart disease, two of the leading killers of women, are caused by smoking. We must redouble all our efforts to rein in tobacco industry marketing of these deadly products to our young women and girls."

The report, "Deadly in Pink: Big Tobacco Steps Up Its Targeting of Women and Girls," was issued by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

Source: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

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