With the international tobacco control conference COP9 now over, Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) advocates have handed out their ‘Good COP, Bad COP’ awards.
The awards follow THR experts and consumer advocates organising a global livestream from 8 to 12 November during COP9 – the 9th Conference of Parties for the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Dubbed sCOPe, the round-the-clock YouTube simulcast attracted significant attention, adding to increasing international pressure on the WHO to embrace safer nicotine products, not demonise them.
Organiser Nancy Loucas of CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates) says sCOPe gave a voice to leading consumer advocates who were shut out of COP9. The focus, however, must now move to preparing for COP10 in 2023 where harm reduced products will be a key discussion for delegates.
“Those of us passionate about safer nicotine products must reach out to the likes of public health officials and influencers. We need to humanise this debate and show how vaping has saved the lives of millions of ex-smokers,” says Ms Loucas.
sCOPe’s Good COP awards:
The ‘Wow, Someone’s Actually Telling Us What’s Going On’ Award went to COPWATCH for getting on the inside and giving the world real-time insights online.
The ‘Give The Man A Cigar’ Award went to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr, for standing up to COP9 delegates.
The ‘I am the Evidence’ Award went to passionate US consumer advocate and sCOPe panellist, Liana Hudspeth.
sCOPe’s Bad COP awards:
The ‘You Shouldn’t Really Say That About Yourself’ Awardgoes to FCTC Head, Dr Adriana Blanco Marquizo, for her very bizarre ‘How industry weaponizes science’ Tweet: https://twitter.com/BlancoMarquizo/status/1459819999653244928
The ‘Our Proposal Won’t Do A Thing But Delegates Loved It’ Award went to Iran, whose government holds a sizable stake in its domestic tobacco industry.
The ‘Where The Hell Is Wally’ Award went to WHO sponsor, anti-vape crusader, and American billionaire Michael Bloomberg for trading in COP9 and flying to Glasgow’s glitzy, high-profile COP26.
To view the two sCOPe wrap-up discussions with leading THR consumer advocates visit https://youtu.be/s9eZMoDeiCE and https://youtu.be/YVlpx6VCE7A
To view sCOPe’s five days of presentations and panel discussions, visit https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8bGDU8FqUlGILwLK52hnRSoAkj-PuBgC
Now live and boasting over 14,000 testimonials, CAPHRA is calling on those who’ve quit cigarettes through smoke-free nicotine alternatives to tell their story on https://righttovape.org
For a free digital media repository on tobacco harm reduction in Asia Pacific – including media releases, images and graphics – please visit APTHR Media