Differences by Sex in Tobacco Use and Awareness of Tobacco Marketing—Bangladesh, Thailand, and Uruguay, 2009

May 28, 2010 / Vol. 59 / No. 20

MMWR Introduction

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of premature death and disease in the world, currently causing more than 5 million deaths each year and projected to cause more than 8 million deaths per year by 2030. Tobacco use among women is increasing in developing countries as tobacco companies increase marketing towards women. This article examines gender differences in tobacco use (smoked and smokeless) and awareness of tobacco marketing.

The article is based on data from the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Surveys (GATS) conducted in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Uruguay as the Ministries of Health in these three countries released GATS data in time to be included in this report. GATS is a nationally representative household survey conducted among persons aged 15 years or older using a standard and consistent core questionnaire, sample design, and data collection and management protocols to ensure comparability across countries. CDC designed GATS to help countries produce national and subnational estimates on tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, and smoking cessation attempts.

In Bangladesh and Thailand, women report substantially lower prevalence of smoked tobacco products compared with men. A smaller gender gradient was observed in Uruguay. In Bangladesh and Thailand, smokeless tobacco use among women is greater than or equal to that among men. Awareness of in-store cigarette marketing in the past 30 days among women ranged from about 8% in Thailand to 24% in Uruguay. In Bangladesh, an estimated 7 of 10 women saw smokeless tobacco marketing and 8 of 10 women noticed bidi marketing in the last 30 days. Survey results support the need for continued implementation and enforcement of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and MPOWER package.