Empower women: combating tobacco industry marketing in the WHO European Region

One of the most striking things about smoking prevalence in the WHO European Region inthe last two decades has been the increase in smoking by women and girls in many partsof the Region. This is in large part due to skilful and successful marketing by the tobaccoindustry to female smokers. The industry has taken a tailored approach to targetingwomen and girls in their campaigns, and the tobacco control community needs to do thesame. Alarm at the increase in women and girls’ use of tobacco is expressed early in theWHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (‎FCTC)‎. This monograph uses examplesof action taken in Europe to serve as a starting point in providing countries with a guideand ideas about what action could and should be taken, in the context of the WHO FCTCArticles and Guidelines.