“Across Asia Pacific, an estimated 5 million adults vape, with most of them being former smokers who have either quit smoking completely or have cut down significantly using their preferred devices and liquids. In almost every case, they did so against the advice and in defiance of the highly restrictive, disproportionate regulations and bans that continue to be imposed on safer products,” say the organisers of the conference.

Voices 4 Vape(1)(2)(3) will feature Julie Woessner, an active member of CASAA(4). Julie is a Duke University graduate and now retired lawyer who has been active in vape advocacy since 2009. More recently, she was the President of the Governing Board of the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations.

The event is going to be moderated by Nancy Loucas, a passionate tobacco harm reduction advocate who co-founded AVCA(5) in 2015. She is committed to fighting the right to vape and that the choice of reduced harm products is freely available to all smokers.

The pair will be joined by Jena Fetalino, described as having, “a solid background in the publishing industry, joining Mosman Communications Inc. and MEDCOM International in 1992 as Founding President at the age of 28.”

“At the 2014 Stevie Awards for Women in Business held in New York, she was recognized as the Female Executive of the Year in Business Services – Global Category, a first for the Philippines. We are fortunate to now have her working alongside us in the THR advocacy community to present our voice to the global media.”

Voices 4 Vape

The conference will focus on its key manifesto pledges that includes a statement that “our right to health is recognised as a fundamental international human right.”

They say: “We, the people, demand that regulators and policymakers –

• Recognise that vaping is dramatically safer than cigarettes and has helped millions quit smoking

• Recall that harm reduction is at the core of international treaty obligations

• Regulate rather than ban

• Rethink dogma

• Regulators must recognise and balance the harm to adults when formulating policy to protect youth”

The event begins at 1pm Hong Kong Time, which means it will be an early start for British vapers and advocates wishing to take part – 5 until 7am Greenwich Mean Time.

References:

1. Voices 4 Vape Conference - https://voices4vape.org/

2. Voices 4 Vape Twitter - https://twitter.com/voices4vape

3. Voices 4 Vape Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/voices4vape/

4. The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association – https://casaa.org/

5. Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy – https://avca.org.nz/

6.