Sifting the evidence : gender and global tobacco control policy

Date

2007

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

World Health Organization, Geneva, CH

Abstract

Both the history of the tobacco epidemic and the shape of its current progression across lowincome and middle-income countries have a gender perspective. This paper examines the gendered aspects of tobacco use and the gendered responses to efforts to prevent or reduce tobacco use across the world. Despite the influence of gender, there has been little development or examination of programmes and policies to address differences between and among women and men throughout the four stages of the tobacco epidemic. The rationale for doing so is clear – the tobacco industry itself has exploited gendered imagery and issues across cultures for decades. It is crucial to prepare more effectively for different patterns of tobacco use in the 21st century among girls, boys, women and men by constructing gendered responses. This paper makes suggestions for creating a gendered global response to tobacco use, with particular reference to the opportunities presented by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and other relevant treaties and agreements.

Description

Digital file is a pre-publication version

Keywords

GENDER ANALYSIS, SMOKING, TOBACCO INDUSTRY, ADVERTISING, HEALTH HAZARDS, ECONOMIC ASPECTS, HEALTH EDUCATION, HEALTH LEGISLATION, GLOBAL

Citation

DOI