Inaugural Asia Forum On Nicotine (AFN25) Hails Breakthrough Success In Advancing Tobacco Harm Reduction

Monday, 1 September 2025, 7:20 am
Press Release: CAPHRA

31 August 2025

The inaugural Asia Forum on Nicotine (AFN25), hosted by the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), was a resounding success, drawing global experts, advocates, and consumers to champion evidence-based tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategies tailored to the Asia-Pacific region's staggering 781 million tobacco users – 63% of the global total.

Moderated by CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas, the virtual event featured compelling insights from leading voices, underscoring THR's potential to save millions of lives while critiquing outdated prohibitionist approaches.

"AFN25 has ignited a vital conversation on rethinking tobacco control in Asia-Pacific," said Loucas. "With COP11 looming, we must amplify consumer voices and evidence to counter the WHO FCTC's misguided dismissal of THR as mere tobacco industry narrative."

Key outtakes from speakers highlighted THR's transformative impact:

Professor Tikki Pang, Senior Global Health Consultant, praised the WHO FCTC's past achievements in averting 22-24 million deaths but lambasted its failure to embrace THR despite Article 1(d)'s implicit support. He warned of 8 million annual smoking-related deaths, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries, and proposed independent platforms for producers, consumers, and investors to bypass WHO's "dogmatic" anti-THR stance. "Things that can't go on forever don't," Pang quoted, predicting the collapse of WHO's position like outdated regimes.

Professor Dr Sharifa Ezat, from the Malaysian Society for Harm Reduction, exposed policy confusion in Malaysia, where THR is wrongly equated with Big Tobacco agendas. She highlighted enforcement gaps fuelling illicit markets with adulterated products, arguing that bans exacerbate black markets and revert users to smoking. "We need stronger emphasis on THR from WHO, but I doubt it will happen soon," she noted, calling for education and expert dialogue.

Dr Alex Wodak, harm reduction expert from Australia, detailed Australia's "extremist" policies creating a A$6.3 billion illicit market and rising smoking rates, contrasting this with THR successes like Philip Morris International deriving 43% of revenue from smoke-free products. "Success is inevitable; the cigarette trade is collapsing," Wodak asserted, urging consumer mobilisation and investor pressure for rapid transformation.

The overarching theme articulated a unified call for risk-proportionate regulations that prioritise safer nicotine alternatives like vaping and heated tobacco products, proven 95% less harmful than combustibles in studies from the UK's Royal College of Physicians and successes in Japan, New Zealand, and Sweden. Speakers decried ideological bans driving underground markets, as seen in Singapore's recent criminalisation of vaping and Indonesia's enforcement struggles despite not ratifying the FCTC.

As COP11 approaches in November, CAPHRA warns that the provisional agenda's exclusionary tactics risk condemning millions to preventable deaths by ignoring THR evidence. "COP11 must not become another echo chamber of outdated ideology," cautioned Loucas. "Excluding consumer advocates violates democratic principles and Article 5.3's intent, potentially stalling progress in a region bearing the world's heaviest smoking burden."

AFN25's participatory format, with live Q&A and expert panels, attracted thousands globally, fostering optimism for stakeholder-driven change. Recordings are available at afn.asia for continued engagement.

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