Worldwide, about 250 million women are smoking daily: 22 percent in developed countries and 9 percent in developing countries. Controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women is an important part of any comprehensive tobacco control strategy. World No Tobacco Day 2010 is designed to draw particular attention to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing toward women and girls.

It will also highlight the need for the nearly 170 Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to ban all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in accordance with their constitutions or constitutional principles.

It also lays guidelines on health warnings on cigarette packets, increases tax on tobacco products and stops cigarette smuggling.

This historic framework commits the countries to fight the devastating consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure (passive smoking).

The framework adopted in 2003 is "to save billions of lives and to protect people's health for generations to come", said WHO director-general Go Harlem Brundtland.

Indonesia, one of the composers of the framework, failed to sign the agreement quoting too great a loss of the state income, safeguarding the tobacco farmers and the many people earning their living from tobacco and its products.

Women comprise about 20 percent of the world's more than 1 billion smokers.

However, the epidemic of tobacco use among women is increasing in some countries. Women are a major target of opportunity for the tobacco industry, which needs to recruit new users to replace the nearly half of current users who will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.

Smokers die in average of 15 years earlier than nonsmokers, especially troubling is the rising prevalence of tobacco use among girls.

The risk of dying from lung cancer is 13 times higher for women who smoke than for nonsmokers. Indonesian women everywhere are likely the most vulnerable passive smokers. They submit to their male partners' smoke.

Being a passive smoker, she becomes a victim of incurable lung cancer. The sad thing is, that the doctor when asked, does not have the courage (or is not honest enough) to tell the real truth about the consequences of passive smoking of a diseased wife (or to her smoking husband).

The new WHO report, "Women and health: today's evidence, tomorrow's agenda", points to evidence that tobacco advertising increasingly targets girls. Data from 151 countries show that about 7 percent of adolescent girls smoke cigarettes as opposed to 12 percent of adolescent boys. In some countries, almost as many girls smoke as boys.

World No Tobacco Day 2010 gives overdue recognition to the importance of controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women.

Although the World No Tobacco Day 2010 campaign will focus on tobacco marketing to women, it will also take into account the need to protect boys and men from the tobacco companies' tactics.

On World No Tobacco Day 2010, and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to pay particular attention to protecting women from the tobacco companies' attempts to lure them into lifetimes of nicotine addiction.

Even many high-profile people in this country underestimate the truly addictive effect of cigarettes comparable to heroine and cocaine.

By responding to WHO's call, the government can reduce the toll of fatal and crippling heart attacks, strokes, cancer and respiratory diseases that have become increasingly prevalent among women.

Tobacco use could kill one billion people during this century. Recognizing the importance of reducing tobacco use among women, and acting upon that recognition, will save many lives.

Although the World No Tobacco Day 2010 campaign will focus on tobacco marketing to women, it will also take into account the need to protect boys and men from the tobacco companies' tactics.

Muherman Harun
Jakarta

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