Scientists are hoping their research will allow them to design a culturally- and gender-specific “intervention” convincing Brazilian women not to light up.
“The goals of the network are to reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among women in Paraná [southern Brazil], and to develop a cadre of well-trained researchers who will continue to address comprehensive tobacco control strategies at multiple levels,” the grant application said.
“Although, historically, tobacco use among women in developing countries, particularly Latin America, has been relatively low as compared to men,”it continued, “the smoking epidemic is rapidly spreading to women in developing countries, and these three Southern states [Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul] have the highest prevalence of women smokers in the country.”