By IANS,
New Delhi : With women comprising about 20 percent of the world’s more than one billion tobacco users, the health ministry Monday called for creating awareness among women about the risks of using tobacco.
“The tobacco industry is now focusing on women as it needs to recruit new users to replace the nearly half of current users who will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases,” Ministry of Health and Family Welfare joint secretary Jagdish Kaur said.
Kaur said tobacco use is very high in India — 57 percent of men and 10.8 percent of women are tobacco users. Furthermore, 8.4 percent of pregnant women in India use tobacco and the percentage is increasing.
“Since the tobacco industry across the globe is targeting women consumers, it is important to create awareness among women about the risks like reduction in fertility, irregularity in menstrual cycle, early menopause, and various types of cancer,” said Sumita Gupta, president of the awareness wing of the Indian Cancer Society.
The Indian Cancer Society organised a skit competition ‘Gender and Tobacco’ Monday addressing the dangers related to smoking in women. A total of 17 schools from the capital participated.