Jump to full article: News Interactive Network/News Limited/News.com (au), 2008-04-13
Author: Gill Vowles
Intro: SMOKING rates among pregnant Tasmanian women are twice the national average and pushing the state's embattled health system further into crisis, authorities warn.
New State Government figures reveal a shocking 27.6 per cent of Tasmania's pregnant women smoke - most of them are young and economically disadvantaged.
Describing the problem as a health disaster for the state, public health director Roscoe Taylor said there were large gaps in smoking rates between the rich and the poor.
While 8.3 per cent of private pregnant patients smoked, the rate for public patients was 35.7 per cent.
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