GFN•TV: News and Interviews

New Zealand's acceptance of safer nicotine products has spearheaded an unprecedented drop in smoking rates in its indigenous communities - can its neighbour Australia leaern a thing or two from New Zealand's success? In this latest episode of GFN News Will Godfrey joins us to highlight a recent paper by Colin Mendelsohn exploring New Zealand's plummeting smoking rates.

Belgium has become the first country in Europe to ban disposable vapes, but will this actually have an impact on youth vaping rates, or will it just reduce access to safer nicotine products for millions of adults who smoke in Belgium? Joining us today is Alberto Gómez Hernández, Policy Manager at the World Vapers' Alliance, to dissect Belgium's vaping crackdown and the impact this could have on adult vapers.

In the second episode of our Easter Europe and Central Asia special Giorgi Mzhavanadze highlights divergent attitudes towards safer products across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Could safer products such as nicotine pouches offer a solution to significantly high rates of tobacco use in Eastern Europe and Central Asia? Joining us today is Giorgi Mzhavanadze, an economist who has worked with Knowledge-Action-Change on the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction report, to highlight trends in tobacco use in the region.

Mexico's smoking rates have stagnated, so why is the government insisting on amending their constitution to ban vapes? Tomás O'Gorman joins us to explain these latest developments in Mexico in this brand new episode of GFN News!

Why has New Zealand's smoking rate dropped so far below Australia's in recent years, and what can we subsequently learn from New Zealand's approach to safer nicotine products? In this episode of GFN News THR advocate Colin Mendelsohn highlights the striking difference in approach to vaping in New Zealand and Australia. Enjoy!

Low nicotine cigarettes form the basis of the FDA's latest plan to reduce tobacco consumption, but will it actually work? Will Godfrey of Filter Magazine joins us to discuss the details of this proposal, and why this not-so-new idea may cause a significant headache for US smoking cessation efforts.

Germany's lawmakers have recently proposed a new ban on menthol flavours in safer nicotine products, but given that menthol is a key ingredient in over 80% of the flavours currently available on the market, could this proposed ban negatively impact the availability of safer nicotine products for people looking to quit smoking? Joining us today is Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers' Alliance, to unpack Germany's proposals and the actions consumers are taking to make their voices heard in this debate.

Despite governments around the world endorsing safer nicotine in the form of nicotine replacement therapy, there remain widespread misconceptions about the safety of nicotine compared to harmful combustible tobacco. In the second part of our series exploring the therapeutic uses of nicotine, Michael Kariuki walks us through the current clinical uses of nicotine and the opportunity posed by safer nicotine products to greatly reduce smoking related mortality.

In the second part of our series looking at Malawi's complicated relationship with tobacco production and smoking, Sahan Lungu joins us to explore whether a holistic approach to tobacco production and smoking could help Malawi minimise the harms related to combustible tobacco use.