GFN25 Celebrates Breakthrough Success In Tobacco Harm Reduction As Evidence Mounts Against WHO Opposition
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) celebrates the success of GFN25, the 12th Global Forum on Nicotine, which concluded in Warsaw on 21 June 2025, delivering compelling evidence that tobacco harm reduction continues gaining momentum despite opposition from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The three-day conference, themed "Challenging Perceptions – Effective Communication for Tobacco Harm Reduction," brought together leading scientists, healthcare professionals, and consumer advocates who presented groundbreaking research demonstrating safer nicotine products' effectiveness.
Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA, said: "GFN25 has highlighted the scientific evidence supporting tobacco harm reduction is overwhelming, yet the WHO continues its campaign against products that could save millions of lives. Denying smokers access to safer alternatives is a moral failure."
Dr Mark Tyndall's keynote address, "What's so scary about tobacco harm reduction?" challenged stigma plaguing tobacco harm reduction policy, drawing parallels between drug harm reduction successes and potential tobacco control outcomes.
The conference featured the prestigious Michael Russell Oration and Award ceremony, recognising outstanding contributions to tobacco harm reduction science. The award honoured Fiona Patten, from Australia, whose tireless advocacy for harm reduction was well deserved."
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
CAPHRA highlighted how discussions reinforced the importance of consumer voices in tobacco harm reduction. There were multiple consumer sessions for Latin America, central Asia and Eastern Europe highlighting the challenges and opportunities for THR in LMICs.
Asa Saligupta, from ECST Thialand, participated in a session on 20 years of FCTC with esteemed experts such as Derek Yach and Tikki Pangestu, both of whom helped craft the original treaty, and are well placed to evaluate its importance and intentions towards THR.
This was especially timely mounting evidence, the WHO's Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report focuses exclusively on traditional tobacco control whilst ignoring harm reduction approaches. The WHO's MPOWER framework excludes safer nicotine products, maintaining an abstinence-only approach proven inadequate for millions of smokers.
"The WHO's refusal to acknowledge evidence is condemning millions to preventable deaths," said Loucas. "New Zealand has shown what's possible when governments trust science. The WHO's ideological opposition betrays its mission to improve global health."
CAPHRA calls on governments to follow scientific evidence from GFN25 and adopt policies prioritising harm reduction alongside traditional tobacco control. Effective tobacco control requires comprehensive approaches including access to safer alternatives for those unable to quit nicotine.
"The evidence is clear, the science settled, and the moral imperative undeniable," concluded Loucas. "It's time for the WHO and governments to stop playing politics with people's lives and trust science showing safer nicotine products can end the smoking epidemic."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
10 hours ago
- Scoop
Gaza: Health System Crumbles Amid Growing Desperation Over Food, Fuel
'Definitely, people get shot,' said Gaza-based medic Dr. Luca Pigozzi, WHO Emergency Medical Team Coordinator. 'They are victim of blast injuries as well and bodily injuries.' The WHO official's comments follow reports of another mass casualty incident on Thursday, this time involving a strike on a market in the central city of Deir al Balah. More than 20 people were killed and approximately 70 others were injured, said the UN aid wing, OCHA, with victims rushed to Al Aqsa Hospital, Nasser Medical Complex and two other health facilities. Hundreds killed seeking food In addition to the latest deadly incident, at least 410 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to fetch aid from controversial non-UN aid hubs supported by Israel and the United States, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday. Providing high-quality medical care is very difficult in the war-torn occupied enclave today, 'particularly because we are speaking about a high volume of patients every time', Dr Pigozzi insisted. Health needs are widespread and dramatic, with almost 50 per cent of medical stocks completely depleted. WHO's first medical shipment into Gaza on Wednesday was its first since 2 March, when Israel imposed a full blockade on the Strip. In total, nine trucks carrying essential medical supplies entered the enclave with 2,000 units of blood and 1,500 units of plasma; all transited through the Kerem Shalom crossing. It is 'only a drop in the ocean' of what is required, Dr Pigozzi said. Aid obstacles remain Speaking to journalists from Jerusalem, WHO's Dr Rik Peeperkorn highlighted renewed difficulties in securing agreement from the Israeli authorities to allow more UN and partner agencies' supply trucks into Gaza. 'That's really unfortunate and should not happen, because you don't want to see those desperate people, and specifically desperate young men, risking their lives to get some food either,' he said, amid reports of a chaotic rush for supplies at non-UN distribution points and of starving Gazans taking goods directly off lorries. Before the Israeli blockade, the UN and its humanitarian partners demonstrated that their aid delivery system reached those most in need, insisted Dr Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory. Today that is not the case because of repeated refusals by Israeli authorities to allow supplies into Gaza. 'Open the routes and make sure that we can get our supplies in,' he said. 'The market needs to be flooded with food and non-food items and water, et cetera, et cetera, and including essential medicines in a most cost-effective manner.' Denied entry Since March, aid teams have encountered a 44 per cent denial rate, meaning that for every 10 staff requesting entry, 'four to five of them are denied per rotation', WHO's Dr Pigozzi said. Echoing that message, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier insisted that people are starving, sick and dying across Gaza every day. 'They have been killed on the way trying to get medical help, they have been killed inside hospitals. Now, additionally, they are being killed on the way to get food items which are scarcely being provided,' he said. 'We have food and medical help minutes away across the border, sitting there and waiting for weeks and months by now. Just open the door.'
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- RNZ News
Cook Islands Cabinet approves significant increase in tobacco tax
By Losirene Lacanivalu , Cook Islands News According to Cook Islands' 2022 STEPS survey, 35.5 percent of adults aged 25-64 are current smokers. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King Cook Islands Cabinet has approved a significant increase in tobacco tax, aiming to reduce smoking rates and combat non-communicable diseases. The Cabinet has recently approved the initiative set by Ministry of Health to increase the tobacco tax by NZ$125.50 per 1000 cigarettes or kilogram of tobacco annually for the next three years. Additionally, a five percent increase has been approved for each subsequent year. The tax increase will come into effect after the proposal is tabled and passed in parliament, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management. The new tobacco taxation represents a 30 percent increase in the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes over the first three years, raising the price from NZ$26.88 to NZ$35.54 by July 2027, says TMO. According to modelling estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO), this tax is also anticipated to lower the smoking rate from 34.50 per cent to 33.4 per cent. According to Cook Islands' 2022 STEPS survey, 35.5 percent of adults aged 25-64 are current smokers. Smoking is more prevalent among younger men aged 18-44 (44 per cent) compared to older men aged 45-69 (26.2 per cent). TMO states that although the overall number of tobacco users in the Cook Islands has decreased over the years, young people are alarmingly initiating tobacco use at an earlier age, from an average of 19.7 years in 2015 to 17.8 years in 2022. It adds that tobacco use is one of the leading risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. "By making tobacco products less affordable, we aim to decrease tobacco use and its associated health risks, towards a healthier, smoke-free Cook Islands," Minister for Health Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown said. However, prominent Cook Islander Mike Tavioni begs to differ, arguing that if the government, through the Ministry of Health, doesn't see the tax increase as profitable, then it should stop importing tobacco altogether. "On the left hand, the government agrees for the importation of cigarettes. And then on the right hand, the government through health says, don't smoke." Tavioni believes if the source - the importation of tobacco - is eliminated, people will be less likely to smoke. "Hypothetically, if the price of cigarettes from the factory is $5, so the government is making, what, 600% profit, right? Therefore, 200% goes to making sure the people with cancer are comfortable. The other 400% is for the government budget," he argued. "If it's not profitable to the government, why don't the government just wipe it? Why don't the government just say no more?" Tavioni says the government should consider increasing the tax on sugary drinks such as Coca-Cola to tackle NCDs. "The cigarette is just profit-making for the government. So if the government is convinced that it's bad for its people, then stop importing it. But they won't … Because it's lucrative, profitable for government, they allow it to be imported." A Cook Islander, who wished to remain anonymous, welcomed Cabinet's decision to increase the tobacco tax. The person believes it is a positive step that will lead to fewer smokers and benefit non-smokers as well. As a passive smoker, the person feels they are exposed to even more harmful chemicals when around smokers, putting them at greater risk of health issues. According to TMO, to address the significant burden of NCDs and tobacco use in the country, the Cook Islands has implemented strong policies and plans, including the Cook Islands Tobacco Control Action Plan 2023-2031 and the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act 2024. The increase in tobacco taxation is a key component of the Tobacco Products Control Action Plan, says TMO. Minister Toki-Brown thanked the Cabinet Ministers for prioritising health, "through the approval of these tobacco taxation reforms". "I also thank Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health for its commitment to a better and heathier future for our children and people, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management and WHO for their close collaboration." The Cook Islands has been a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) since 2004. Because of the Cook Islands' strong tobacco control measures, they were awarded the World No Tobacco Day Award 2025 by WHO last May 2025. Health Secretary Bob Williams accepted the award on behalf of Te Marae Ora from WHO's Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus on 19 May at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. "We congratulate the Cook Islands on their decision to increase tobacco taxes and their overall robust and comprehensive measures in tobacco control. Indeed, the World No Tobacco Day Award is well-deserved," said Lepaitai Hansell Blanche, officer-in-charge of the WHO Representative Office for Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau. "The Cook Islands' efforts set a strong example for the rest of the region to follow. We urge other Pacific nations to adopt similar measures and work together towards achieving tobacco- and nicotine-free islands." -This article was first published by Cook Islands News .
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
GFN25 Celebrates Breakthrough Success In Tobacco Harm Reduction As Evidence Mounts Against WHO Opposition
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) celebrates the success of GFN25, the 12th Global Forum on Nicotine, which concluded in Warsaw on 21 June 2025, delivering compelling evidence that tobacco harm reduction continues gaining momentum despite opposition from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The three-day conference, themed "Challenging Perceptions – Effective Communication for Tobacco Harm Reduction," brought together leading scientists, healthcare professionals, and consumer advocates who presented groundbreaking research demonstrating safer nicotine products' effectiveness. Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA, said: "GFN25 has highlighted the scientific evidence supporting tobacco harm reduction is overwhelming, yet the WHO continues its campaign against products that could save millions of lives. Denying smokers access to safer alternatives is a moral failure." Dr Mark Tyndall's keynote address, "What's so scary about tobacco harm reduction?" challenged stigma plaguing tobacco harm reduction policy, drawing parallels between drug harm reduction successes and potential tobacco control outcomes. The conference featured the prestigious Michael Russell Oration and Award ceremony, recognising outstanding contributions to tobacco harm reduction science. The award honoured Fiona Patten, from Australia, whose tireless advocacy for harm reduction was well deserved." Advertisement - scroll to continue reading CAPHRA highlighted how discussions reinforced the importance of consumer voices in tobacco harm reduction. There were multiple consumer sessions for Latin America, central Asia and Eastern Europe highlighting the challenges and opportunities for THR in LMICs. Asa Saligupta, from ECST Thialand, participated in a session on 20 years of FCTC with esteemed experts such as Derek Yach and Tikki Pangestu, both of whom helped craft the original treaty, and are well placed to evaluate its importance and intentions towards THR. This was especially timely mounting evidence, the WHO's Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report focuses exclusively on traditional tobacco control whilst ignoring harm reduction approaches. The WHO's MPOWER framework excludes safer nicotine products, maintaining an abstinence-only approach proven inadequate for millions of smokers. "The WHO's refusal to acknowledge evidence is condemning millions to preventable deaths," said Loucas. "New Zealand has shown what's possible when governments trust science. The WHO's ideological opposition betrays its mission to improve global health." CAPHRA calls on governments to follow scientific evidence from GFN25 and adopt policies prioritising harm reduction alongside traditional tobacco control. Effective tobacco control requires comprehensive approaches including access to safer alternatives for those unable to quit nicotine. "The evidence is clear, the science settled, and the moral imperative undeniable," concluded Loucas. "It's time for the WHO and governments to stop playing politics with people's lives and trust science showing safer nicotine products can end the smoking epidemic."
