Women are nearing equality with men in a terrible category — the number of deaths caused each year by smoking.
That somber news is contained in a report issued by Surgeon General David Satcher. It found that women now account for 39 percent of all-smoking related deaths each year in the United States. That's more than double the total in 1965.
While Utah has the lowest percentage of female smokers in the nation, it is still far too high. Close to 12 percent of Utah's high school girls smoke. That translates into 12,000 girls under the age of 19. For adult women the figure is 11.4 percent, which equates to 82,000 women.
Lung cancer, which used to be rare among women, has surpassed breast cancer as leading cause of cancer deaths among females in the United States. It accounts for 25 percent of all cancer deaths among women. Lung cancer is expected to kill nearly 68,000 women this year — 27,000 more than will die from breast cancer.
Smoking is particularly hazardous for pregnant women. A doctor told the American Cancer Society's Beverly May, who is Utah project coordinator for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's national tobacco policy initiative, that whenever a woman who smokes is about to give birth, the hospital will make preparations for special care for the baby because of the potential for lung disorders and other illnesses.
May also notes that the average cost of a pregnancy for a woman who smokes goes up $2,500.
The smoking cycle is a difficult one to break. Children of parents who smoke are much more likely to smoke themselves than those of parents who don't smoke. Plus, children who live in homes where a parent smokes often suffer illnesses caused by second-hand smoke.
These sobering statistics are evidence of what May charges is an effort by tobacco companies to target women and young girls. May cites a Federal Trade Commission report that says tobacco companies spent $8.24 billion on advertising and promotions during 1999, up 22 percent from 1998. Because the ads aimed at women have obviously been effective, Satcher and others are calling for more intense anti-smoking campaigns for girls and women.
It is an effort worthy of wholehearted support. No more lives should be allowed, quite literally, to go up in smoke.