Description
The tenth anniversary of the forum. Time for some reflection on the events impacting the drive to reduce smoking and related health issues. Much has changed, both for the conference and the wider field of tobacco harm reduction. Global uptake of vapes, snus, and more recently, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches, continued to grow as tens of millions of people sought safer ways to use nicotine. In many countries, however, confusion still reigned in regulatory and political responses to the products; the FCTC COP10 meeting in Panama later that year also potentially could have a negative impact on the future of tobacco harm reduction around the world.
Our aim for this forum was to increase accessibility for those wishing to engage in the debates. Not only through providing free online access to proceedings - both live and recorded - but also by introducing simultaneous translation into other languages (initially Spanish and Russian). Professor Roberto Sussman, a consumer advocate from Mexico, also delivered a powerful Michael Russell Oration, entitled 'A rigorous critical evaluation of tobacco and nicotine science'. The results from this approach have been impressive and have significantly increased the constituency for GFN, especially amongst consumer advocates.
