Smoking and Quitting Smoking: Crucial Issues for Women

Abstract

It is undeniable that tobacco use by women and girls continues to limit the real improvements in quality of life and longevity that we might expect, as it does for men and boys. Smoking is the main cause of preventable death and disease in our country. Women's smoking is not an emerging health issue; it is a health concern that has been with us for decades. Smoking rates for women were at their highest in the 1970s and we are now reaping the results of this in the peaking of disease rates that have taken twenty years to emerge. It is hoped we will not see a repeat of this pattern, but we cannot afford to be complacent. The challenge now is to bring the smoking rates for women down even further, as quickly as possible.