CCWI Holds Briefing on Women and Smoking

The Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues held a briefing on June 27 to discuss issues related to women and smoking. Caucus Co-Chair Judy Biggert (R-IL) opened the briefing, stating that the Caucus had identified women’s health education and disease prevention programs as priorities for the 107th Congress.

U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher addressed his recent report, Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General—2001, noting that the first Surgeon General’s report in 1964 focused on smoking and health. During Dr. Satcher’s tenure, he has issued three reports on smoking, including the most recent report focused on women. Dr. Satcher cited a number of statistics about women and smoking:

• Last year, 27,000 more women died from lung cancer than from breast cancer.
• In 1999, approximately 165,000 women died prematurely from smoking-related diseases, such as cancer and heart disease.
• Teens are a particular concern, with dramatic increases in the rate of smoking among teenaged girls since the early 1990s—30 percent of high school senior girls smoke.
• Smoking rates increase for women with less formal education—women with less than a high school education are three times more likely to smoke than college graduates.

Dr. Satcher also noted the unique problems facing women who smoke, including reproductive health-related concerns such as infertility, higher cervical cancer risk, and higher risk pregnancies. Women who smoke also face a much higher risk of heart disease than men who smoke.

Other briefing speakers included: Corrine Huston, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Diane Stover, American College of Chest Physicians; Dr. Rose Marie Robertson, American Heart Association; Matthew Meyers, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; Wendy Selig, American Cancer Society; and Nancy Loving, WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

Caucus Co-Chair Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA) moderated the briefing, and spoke about the success of California’s efforts in regard to smoking prevention activities. Several other states also have implemented successful anti-smoking efforts, including Arizona, Florida, and Massachusetts. She noted that the Caucus will be considering the experts’ recommendations for congressional action in the future.