Report Card on Smoking and Women's Health Released

News Released September 30, 2003

Women and Smoking

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death among women, yet 38 states, including Oregon, received failing grades for not meeting national goals to reduce and prevent smoking among girls and women. The report shows that our nation is not doing enough to stop this major killer of women and the billions in health care costs it imposes on state and national budgets, according to the Report Card released today by the National Women's Law Center and the Center for Women's Health at Oregon Health & Science University.

Women and Smoking: A National and State-by-State Report Card is the first survey to comprehensively assess women's smoking-related health conditions and the policies that have proved effective in reducing smoking. The study grades and ranks each state based on 11 health status indicators, and evaluates the strength of state tobacco control policies through 10 policy indicators. The nation is evaluated as well. Women and Smoking grades the health indicators against goals drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010.

"This report delivers deplorable news for women, especially in Oregon. A lot of women are dying and we can and should be doing more to help. These are preventable deaths," said Michelle Berlin, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and public health and preventive medicine, OHSU Center for Women's Health. She is the primary author of the health status aspects of this report.

Read the OHSU Press Release about the project.

View The Report.

(Requires Acrobat Reader)

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