Vol. 429 No. 3
227 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Health if there are statistics to prove that one in every four women who use tobacco will die prematurely from their addiction; if so, if this fact has been sufficiently highlighted; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
According to the World Health Organisation, current trends in smoking-related deaths in women suggest that at least one in four women who smoke, will die from smoking-related diseases. Recent estimates suggest that over 2,500 women die in Ireland annually from smoking-related diseases.
My Department has had in place for some time now a comprehensive anti-smoking strategy which includes legislative, educational and fiscal measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking. The percentage of those over fifteen years who smoke has decreased from 43 per cent in the early 1970s to 30 per cent now. This represents a decrease from 49 per cent to 30 per cent among men and from 37 per cent to 30 per cent among women. The fact that the rate of decrease has been slower among women — a phenomenon not peculiar to Ireland — has led us in recent years to place particular emphasis in our information/educational campaigns on smoking among women. In conjunction with the Council for the Status of Women my Department's Health Promotion Unit developed materials to highlight the unaesthetic effects of smoking. This message was targeted at young women in particular. The Health Promotion Unit also developed materials to draw attention to the fact that, if a pregnant woman smokes, her unborn baby smokes too. The Unit also provided support to the Council for the Status of Women to organise a seminar on the theme of young women and smoking.
The Deputy will be aware also that I recently launched a major multi-media anti-smoking campaign targeted at young people, particularly young women.
