Women smokers outnumber men in growing numbers of countries – often because sellers are allowed to depict it as "glamorous", global campaigners warned today.
New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Chile and Bulgaria are among these countries, according to the World Health Organisation.
WHO said it highlighted growing rates of tobacco use among women as it launched World No Tobacco Day.
It calls for world-wide bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, warning that this increasingly targets women, linking smoking to beauty and freedom.
WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said: "The trends in some countries are extremely worrisome. Tobacco use is neither liberating nor glamorous. It is addictive and deadly."
In Britain campaigners alleged that tobacco companies continue to influence health policy, using "shadowy tactics".
Betty McBride, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The tobacco lobby has been acting like a sinister puppet-master, pulling strings behind the scenes to get people with undisclosed ties to the industry to peddle their spurious arguments.
"The good news is politicians have seen through their grubby strategy. They recognise that the ban on cigarette vending machines will close off a source of tobacco accessed by all too many of our children."
In Scotland, doctors urged adults having children to give up smoking for the sake of their children.
As many as 20 per cent of Scottish women continue to smoke in pregnancy.
Dr Sally Winning, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said: "Smoking while pregnant can have long term effects on the health of a baby.
"Maternal smoking in pregnancy is a cause of low birth weight in babies and has been linked to cot death. We would urge women smokers who are pregnant or who are considering becoming pregnant to discuss ways of giving up with their GP, pharmacist or health visitor.
"Partners and families also have a role to play. They can help pregnant women stop smoking by undertaking to quit at the same time – it’s much easier doing it together."
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