Deaths from tobacco consumption increase in women and decrease in men

Tobacco is the substance that causes the greatest number of preventable deaths and disabilities in the world. According to the World Health Organization, it kills more than 8 million people every year, mainly from cancer, cardiovascular diseases and lung diseases. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the WHO estimates that it claims 500 lives each year. And in Spain, around 000.

Some of the health effects of tobacco use, such as respiratory symptoms, appear shortly after smoking begins. However, there are others that take years to occur, such as cancer. Therefore, monitoring how many people die from smoking, from having smoked, or even simply from being exposed to environmental tobacco smoke is important and should be done periodically.

Women started smoking later
The expansion of tobacco consumption in Spain was later than in other developed countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom. It was not until the Civil War (1936-1939) when smoking became popular among Spanish men, first among those from the most favored social classes and later among the working classes.

This same pattern was observed in women, but decades later, because until the 60s it was socially frowned upon for a woman to smoke. However, everything changed between the late 60s and early 70s of the last century, a time when there was a significant increase in tobacco consumption among Spanish women.

Evolution of mortality related to tobacco consumption in Spain
One of the most common ways to evaluate the impact of tobacco on a population is through the calculation of mortality attributed to consumption. This indicator is related to the prevalence of tobacco consumption and the risk that smokers and ex-smokers have of dying due to having smoked.

To analyze how mortality attributed to tobacco evolves in Spain, a study was carried out to estimate the mortality burden associated with tobacco consumption over a period of almost 30 years (1990-2018).

During this period, tobacco use caused more than 1,7 million deaths, and of these deaths more than 1,5 million occurred in men. Overall, the data suggest that mortality attributed to tobacco consumption is decreasing in Spain.

If the data are analyzed in detail, this decrease is due to a clear decrease in mortality attributed to tobacco consumption in men at any age starting in the late 90s. But if we stay only with the data for the female population , things change radically. Since the XNUMXs, mortality attributed to tobacco use in women has been increasing, especially due to lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. And it does so quickly in both young and older women.

In women, the increase in mortality attributed to lung cancer, which has gained great prominence in recent years, is especially worrying. Thus, during the first half of the study period (1990-2003), lung cancer represented 12,3% of the total attributed mortality in women, while in the second half (2004-2018) it almost doubled, reaching 21% of the total.

Moving towards a tobacco-free society
Tobacco consumption is responsible for a high number of deaths each year and, although these deaths have always been higher in men, the recent evolution of mortality attributed to tobacco consumption in women is worrying.

It is true that in Spain a great advance was made in Public Health with the approval of Laws 28/2005 and 42/2010 on health measures to control smoking. But it has not been enough: both the percentage of smokers and the mortality figures attributed to tobacco consumption continue to be high in Spain.

Therefore, to continue advancing in the fight against the tobacco epidemic, it is necessary to update and reinforce policies for its control, especially strategies aimed at preventing the start and cessation of consumption, both of conventional tobacco and its new forms of consumption. . Taking into account that these strategies must be designed with an equity and gender perspective.

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Source: The Conversation. Authorship:

Monica Perez Rios
Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela

Agustín Montes Martínez
Full University Professor in the area of ​​Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela

Julia Rey Brandariz
Researcher in Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela

Featured image: Image by Alexandr Litovchenko on Pixabay