GFN 2020 Registration Open
With just under two weeks to go, free registration is now open for the online Global Forum on Nicotine 2020 conference
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by Dave Cross
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Since 2014, the Global Forum on Nicotine has brought together a hugely diverse range of stakeholders involved with new and safer nicotine products, from consumers to policy analysts, public health experts to parliamentarians, and academics to manufacturers. The unique, inclusive nature of the GFN provides a platform for debate of often-contentious issues, made possible by the commitment of all who attend it to do so with an open mind and to examine the evidence in making decisions and judgements.
The organisers say: “In the wake of the so-called ‘EVALI’ crisis, and with the review to the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD 2) and the ninth session of the (now postponed) World Health Organization’s Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP9) on the horizon, 2020 was already set to be a key year for tobacco harm reduction and nicotine science.
“Yet as the COVID-19 pandemic grips the world, debates over the impact of smoking and vaping on susceptibility to and severity of the disease, alongside research into nicotine’s potentially protective role, have only heightened focus on this field. Attacks on tobacco harm reduction are intensifying and, now more than ever, policy must be informed by well-formed evidence and led by science.”
In light of all this, KAC Communications is excited to launch the online GFN20 on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 June, when presentations from 30 top expert speakers will premiere online on the theme Nicotine: science, ethics and human rights, before being made available for viewing at any time. Advances in nicotine science, the ethical arguments in favour of tobacco harm reduction, and the human rights issues for all those who advocate for the right to health will be explored. Anyone can take part in GFN20, for free, from anywhere in the world.
Paddy Costall, co-director of the conference, said: “Since we started in 2014, GFN has always welcomed participants from a hugely diverse range of groups, professions and disciplines, something of which KAC Communications is rightly proud. Simply put, we believe in freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of speech.
“In the last year, the intensity of attacks on pro-tobacco harm reduction researchers, academics and professionals across the world have increased significantly, with organisations discredited and ad hominem attacks launched on individuals for their beliefs or connections.
“As always, and perhaps even more so in this critical year, GFN is open to everyone with an interest in nicotine science and policy. It is open to everyone who wants to reduce the toll of tobacco-related death and disease worldwide. And it is open to everyone who recognises that global tobacco control will fail without the strategic addition of tobacco harm reduction, in the form of widespread access to safer nicotine products. We look forward to welcoming you on the 11 and 12 June - and hope to see many of you in Warsaw, where we plan to meet again in June 2021.”
Programme highlights for this year include:
- Latest science on nicotine, smoking, vaping and COVID-19 from Konstantinos Farsalinos and Riccardo Polosa
- Perspectives on ethics and harm reduction from Clive Bates, Marewa Glover, Ethan Nadelmann, Fiona Patten, David Sweanor and Alex Wodak
- The Michael Russell Oration from New Nicotine Alliance’s Louise Ross
- Plus, consumer viewpoints, what’s forthcoming in regulation, ensuring marginalised communities access tobacco harm reduction and much more
Further details can be found in the links below.
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Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
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