Young women in Ireland are beginning to catch up with men on the smoking front, an anti-smoking lobby group reported today.
Dr Fenton Howell, head of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Ireland, said: "Women have certainly been catching up with men on the amount of smoking they are doing, and this is something that needs to be tackled.
"The reality is that if women smoke like men, unfortunately they will die like men."
He said about around 7,000 people died in Ireland each year from smoking-related diseases.
"About 4,500 of those are men, and 2,500 women. "What we are seeing is an increase in the number of women dying from smoking-related diseases, and suffering from all the illnesses that men do, like lung cancer, heart disease and chronic bronchitis.
"We have got to seriously tackle the issue, rather than just talk about it."
Dr Fenton said there had been a rise in the numbers of women contracting illnesses linked to smoking.
"It is happening, and one of the reasons is that lots of women are turning to smoking things like low-tar and so-called light cigarettes in the belief that they are less harmful.
"We have known for a while that they are just as harmful. That is the biggest marketing trick the industry has played on people.
"We have to make sure those sorts of things are banned forthwith." He called on the Irish government to speed up legislation to strengthen measures to prevent smoking.
"We have got to move on it now and stop people from getting ill through something that is not necessary."
PA