Lung Cancer Kills More Women than Breast Cancer

During 1999, 12,765 women in the UK died from Lung Cancer. This compares with 12,677 victims of Breast Cancer, traditionally seen as a greater threat to women.

Improved screening programmes, greater research and greater awareness have reduced levels of Breast Cancer by 5% in the last twenty years. Meanwhile, deaths from Lung Cancer have risen by 36%. More young girls are taking up the habit each year than boys, and older women may find it harder to quit than their male counterparts, according to research.

Meanwhile, the British Government prepared to continue with the ban on tobacco advertising this month, despite the European Court of Justice's ruling that a Europe-wide ban on tobacco advertising is illegal. Smoking kills 500,000 people a year, equivalent to a city with a population the size of Hanover and 3.5 times the number killed during the bombing of Hiroshima.

Friday, 10 November 2000