Seminar on Women and Smoking
Published: Monday, July 09, 2012
The National Women's Council of Ireland and the Irish Cancer Society held a very successful seminar on Women and Smoking - Time to Face the Crisis in Dublin last Wednesday 04 July 2012 which was well attended by health professionals, women's organisations and policy makers who came together to show their support and commitment to tackling this growing women's health issue.
The seminar highlighted how the tobacco industry is aggressively targeting women and girls in the hope to recruit more women smokers. The seminar highlighted the fact that almost 1 in 3 women in Ireland now smoke and for the first time more women in Ireland are dying from lung cancer than breast cancer. It also proposed solutions to this crisis - for behavioural and pharmacological support for women to stop smoking to be available in communities throughout Ireland particularly in disadvantaged areas where over 50% of young women smoke and the introduction of plain packaging to significantly lessen the appeal to young women.
The guest speakers on the day provided us with excellent and thought provoking information and certainly presented the picture that we are indeed facing a crisis. Please click below to download each presentation:
Health Inequalities in Ireland Today, Ms. Sinéad Pentony [pdf 153.55 KB]
Women Smoking and Inequalities, Dr. Jude Robinson [pdf 697.41 KB]
Marketing Tobacco to Women, Prof. Amanda Amos [pdf 1.23 MB]
Health Effects of Smoking, Dr. Finbarr O'Connell (Presentation to follow)
Smoking and Pregnancy, Ms. Denise Cahill [pdf 1.36 MB]
Tobacco Control, Advocacy Workshop, Ms Rachel Wright [pdf 4.51 MB]
XHale Youth Awards, Tackling smoking with young people in their communities. Ms. Joanne Vance [pdf 3.97 MB]
The seminar on Wednesday was just the first step to tackle the problem of women and smoking. The NWCI look forward to continued collaboration with the Irish Cancer Society on this important issue in line with the motion passed at our recent AGM in June. For further information please contact Jacqueline Healy jacquelineh@nwci.ie