Society
Women now main target of tobacco firms
By Cheng Yingqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-19 07:20
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BEIJING - The number of female smokers in the country may see a sharp rise as Chinese women have become the main target of tobacco companies, a government official said on Tuesday.
Li Xinhua, a division chief with the Ministry of Health's department of women, children and community health, said Chinese female smokers will probably jump by 10 percent if the government does not impose stricter control.
"Statistics suggest that by the year 2002, 3.1 percent of women were smokers in China. Without further intervention by the government, it may easily pass 15 percent in the years to come," Li said.
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Li made the warning at a two-day conference to train 60 spokesmen to raise anti-smoking awareness. The event, held in Capital Medical University, ended on Tuesday.
According to Li, China's male smokers have accounted for 66 percent of all Chinese men.
"Sixty-six percent is already saturated. That means around 50 percent of men will die before they are 65 years old and the tobacco companies will be forced to cultivate a new market among women," Li said.
Female smokers have a different psychology from male smokers, said Wei Wuming, a professor with the Communication University of China.
"Most women started smoking because they thought it was fashionable and could keep them slim," Wei said
"The tobacco companies capitalize on these to attract them."
"Smoking will make me look cool and I can do it better than men," said a 23-year-old Beijing woman surnamed Wei.
Now Chinese tobacco companies reportedly have cigarettes specially designed for women, with colorful packages and fruit flavors.
Wei also said that with the spread of feminism, more women in developing countries will consider smoking as a sign of self-consciousness.
In China, the number of women suffering from second-hand smoke is growing. China has 350 million smokers and 540 million people are suffering from secondhand smoke. About 70 percent of Chinese women are suffering from secondhand smoking, Wei said.
He Yao, director of the institute of geriatrics in the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, said 82 percent of Chinese male smokers smoke at home, 35 percent smoke at work and 67 percent in public places.
"Smoking and smoking exposure will cause cancer, caducity, cardiovascular disease and rarefaction of bone to women," He said.
"Moreover, it could lead to infertility in women. If a pregnant woman smokes, her daughter would have a higher risk of infertility."
He also said that smoking during pregnancy would negatively affect the unborn child's intelligence, memory and nervous system.
Professor Zhi Xiuyi, an expert on lung cancer, said Chinese women who had lung cancer increased by 30 percent in the last five years. The number of people that died of lung cancer also rose by 50 percent in urban areas and 30 percent in rural areas in the same period, Zhi said.
Out of all the people killed by cancer, 87 percent had lung cancer, he said.
In 2003, China signed the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into effect in 2005.
In line with the convention, China should ban tobacco advertising, promulgate laws to ban smoking in public places and raise consumption tax rate on tobacco by January 2011.
But Li Xinhua said China's tobacco volume has been growing sharply, counting for one-third of tobacco production worldwide and with domestic smokers consuming most of the cigarettes.
"Even if we take effective measures now, the market size will not shrink to less than 350 million in 30 years," Li said.
"So eliminating tobacco advertisements, raising tax rates and forbidding smoking in public places are all necessary."
