In this episode of GFN Voices 2025, pharmacology and toxicology expert Ingrid Taricano shares why harm reduction isn’t just an option—it’s at the very heart of toxicology. From medicines to food, and even safer alternatives to smoking, toxicology is about understanding limits and reducing risks.
Hear Ingrid’s perspective on why science, policy, and public health must embrace harm reduction to create safer choices for people everywhere.
Transcription:
00:10 - 00:15
[Joanna Junak]
Ingrid, you are a leading expert in pharmacology and toxicology in Brazil.
00:16 - 01:11
[Ingrid Taricano]
So, can you tell me what got you interested in harm reduction? Well, I'm going to speak in Spanish. I'm very interested in harm reduction because it's part, of course, it's not part, it's the foundation of toxicology. Toxicology is working to mark the limits that will result in safety or a relative safety for the use of everything, of medication, of food, and why not, of all forms of nicotine delivery that are not cigarette or combustion. So it is impossible to do toxicology without thinking about risk reduction. About setting parameters for safety. That’s it.
01:11 - 01:20
[Joanna Junak]
What message did you share with participants during your presentation at GSTHR Roadshow?
01:21 - 02:11
[Ingrid Taricano]
Well, some things are very important. One, which is a very big concern, is the training of new doctors, of new clinicians, who are still students, but are exposed to information that is not true many times. So we have to walk in the university, I as a teacher feel the obligation to do that, And on the other hand, regulation in general, not only in Brazil, but everywhere. And if you're not careful, there's a risk. So, this is a very important message.
02:11 - 02:17
[Joanna Junak]
What risk should we keep in mind when we're talking tobacco harm reduction?
02:21 - 03:04
[Ingrid Taricano]
There is a large amount of discomfort that is not only physical, but also mental. And it is not only for adults, but also for young people and children. We are seeing in schools children and young people starting to use nicotine, which is not correct. That wasn't the case with combustible cigarettes. That's how we're managing to put an end to this. But delivering nicotine in other ways is very dangerous, it's a very big risk.
03:05 - 03:11
[Joanna Junak]
Do people in Brazil and Europe see harm reduction products as equally safe?
03:11 - 03:12
[Ingrid Taricano]
No.
03:12 - 03:13
[Joanna Junak]
Why?
03:14 - 04:07
[Ingrid Taricano]
Definitely not. Why? I think that in Brazil this matter is very new. It is very contaminated with information that is full of errors, many errors. And in Europe there is availability of data in a much more aggressive way than in Brazil. I was twice at King's College in London. The amount of information is very large and we don't have that in Brazil. Although it is forbidden to import, it is forbidden to do anything. We cannot do research with serious products, regulated. So this is the difference.
04:08 - 04:14
[Joanna Junak]
Why is education so important in reducing tobacco damage?
04:14 - 05:05
[Ingrid Taricano]
Well, if a person doesn't know, they can't measure, they can't measure to what risk they are exposed to. So, like a child who says, it's not going to go, it's going to fall. It's not going to go, it's going to fall. The child goes and falls. So, why? Because they don't know, because they don't know, because we have to teach. Everything in life, the professional training, the training of lay people who are not professionals, we have to do, we have to bring information, we have to show what is possible, what is impossible and what is harmful. This is the importance for everything, not only for that, for everything, but that mainly.
05:06 - 05:07
[Joanna Junak]
Thank you very much, Ingrid.