GFN•TV: News and Interviews

GFN News speaks with Filter’s Will Godfrey about reports of dramatic increases in vaping-related emergency department visits across several US states, especially among youth, and examines what those numbers truly represent beyond the headlines. The conversation highlights how headlines like “teen ER visits surge” can obscure distinctions between acute nicotine toxicity and far more subjective “e‑cigarette dependence” admissions that have driven much of the increase in reported cases. The discussion also explores how clinicians may mark visits as vape-related simply because a patient discloses vaping, even when it’s incidental to the medical issue, potentially inflating counts without reflecting actual vaping-caused harm.

Toxicologist Autumn Bernal explains why harm reduction keeps her in the fight: reducing disease burden for adult smokers through better product design, rigorous toxicology, and clear science communication. She highlights the core engineering challenge for ENDS: optimizing heating to minimize emissions while effectively delivering nicotine - without the harmful constituents found in cigarettes.

Challenging misconceptions can save lives. Too often, outdated beliefs and misinformation prevent people from accessing safer alternatives to cigarettes. Today, Dr. Sud Patwardhan sheds light on how evidence-based strategies can help cut tobacco-related harm, especially in low- and middle-income countries where the burden of smoking is highest.

Australia’s vape prohibition is fueling a booming illicit market—while New Zealand’s regulated approach sees smoking rates fall faster. In this GFN 2025 conversation, Fiona Patten speaks with Rohan Pike and Asa Saligupta about what’s broken in tobacco control, what actually works in harm reduction.

Explore tobacco harm reduction at GFN through a candid interview with Brazilian consumer advocate Alexandro Lucian, who shares why this global event matters, the misinformation challenges in Brazil, and why education and accurate science are essential for safer nicotine choices. Learn how language barriers, anti‑vaping narratives, and limited local research shape public opinion—and how translating complex evidence into Portuguese helps counter myths.

In this interview, tobacco harm reduction advocate Nancy Loucas unpacks how consumer voices are pushing back against vaping misinformation in New Zealand, why education matters in a “post-truth” world, and how Asia-Pacific communities win by doing it “their way".

Armenian doctor Satenik Muradyan explains why education is key to tobacco harm reduction, revealing that over 80% of physicians in Armenia lack smoking-cessation training, how misconceptions about tar vs. nicotine fuel resistance, divided youth attitudes toward safer nicotine products, and why step-by-step, evidence-based communication works - insights shared at GFN on overcoming deeply rooted misinformation.

At GFN25 in Warsaw, Paddy Costall hosts Dorrie Heemskerk and David Williams to tackle risk communication, smarter regulation without bans, and consumer-led tobacco harm reduction—from vapes and pouches to heated tobacco—amid WHO/FCTC headwinds and Europe’s tightening rules.

Across Europe, health experts are raising alarm over the European Commission’s plan to impose new taxes on reduced-risk nicotine products such as e‑cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches.
In this episode of GFN News on GFN.TV, Joanna Junak speaks with leading international specialists — including Fernando Bueno, Bernd Mayer, Garrett McGovern and Konstantinos Farsalinos — who explain why such taxation could have serious unintended consequences.

Panellists used their expertise in the recent regulatory developments of some key markets to shed light on broader principles. How can regulation support innovation and offer consumers choice at the same time as safeguarding public health? Do producers and consumers want the same things? Panellists discussed the risks of over- or under-regulation and the growth of illicit markets, and the discussion examined how effective regulation can drive investment, support the shift away from combustible tobacco and encourage harm reduction, also drawing lessons from other industries.