Advocates Coming Together
Tobacco harm reduction advocates are coming together over the next two months to brainstorm and debate the best ways to advance safer nicotine products globally
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by Dave Cross
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“Advocates from around the world have been asking for seminars on the nuts and bolts of advocacy, what is effective, where to find information, and how to get the message across. This new online series will address a real need out there,” says Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator for the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).
Dubbed The Advocates Voice ‘Shorts’ Series, five sessions will be livestreamed fortnightly, launching on 26 March and finishing up on 21 May.
“It’s obvious that the war on nicotine is not going away. Advocates need information and support to carry on fighting as THR is here to stay. Nearly 70 countries have already adopted regulatory frameworks on safer nicotine products, leading to dramatic declines in their overall smoking rates. If we are to save millions of more lives, our advocacy needs to be incredibly effective,” says Ms Loucas.
Each of the five programmes will start with a short video presentation, followed by a live Q&A session for advocates to help each other. Those actively campaigning for adults to have access to safer nicotine products in their respective countries will discuss and detail the issues and questions they encounter.
The episodes will run via the CAPHRA and sCOPe YouTube channels at 12:00pm NZT. To view the series promotion, and see the links for each programme, visit: https://youtu.be/4H9CdRGv0zk
The five sessions are ‘The Practice of Self Care’ on 26 March, ‘Culture, Context and Collaboration - Global Advocacy’ on 9 April, ‘Communication - Know Your Audience’ on 23 April, ‘Communication - Delivering the Message’ on 7 May, and ‘Social Media Engagement - Truth will Prevail’ on 21 May.
Most of the Asia Pacific region is turning a corner by including THR in public health policy, with three more key countries now looking to legalise and regulate vaping. The Philippines’ approved legislation is just awaiting presidential sign-off, while Malaysia and Thailand are investigating the best way to overturn their unsuccessful vaping bans.
“In recent years, effective advocacy has been key to many countries adopting a THR approach. Advocates coming together for this initiative and discussing best practice will be time well spent. The aim for us as always is to deliver tangible results, namely saving smokers’ lives,” says Nancy Loucas.
In recent years The Advocates Voice (TAV) has been a regular broadcast. The latest episode discussed Australia’s failed ‘quit or die’ approach, New Zealand’s bold and progressive Smokefree 2025 Action Plan, and gave an update on what is going on in China. To view the 13 March episode, visit https://youtu.be/HnuApgneKPI
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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 start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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