Tobacco Use by Arab Women

Abstract

Tobacco use by women has increased over the past century, and this is also the case of women in the Arab world. This has led to dramatic increases in smoking-related diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancers, and also diseases peculiar to women’s health. It is widely accepted that women are more susceptible to the health complications of smoking than men. Although tobacco use in the Arab population mostly occurs with males, up to 31% of women use one or more tobacco forms and products in Arab countries. Arab women use different forms of tobacco such as cigarettes, e-cigarettes, water pipe, midwakh, and smokeless tobacco. They are subjected to the various health risk hazards associated with these forms of tobacco use. Epidemiological evidence on the prevalence of tobacco use by females in Arab countries is still insufficient; this chapter discusses the available data and the reported tobacco smoking complications in women. Increased awareness of the expected health hazards will help to enhance smoking cessation programs specifically directed to women.