I was very privileged to be able to participate in the SRNT conference this year in Florence. I joined a group of Aspire2025 researchers from Aotearoa including Pacific researchers, Stephanie Erick (now working with Hāpai Te Hauora) and Dr El-Shadan (Dan) Tuatolo (AUT), along with Anaru Waa, and Professors Richard Edwards and Janet Hoek from the University of Otago. Aotearoa was also represented by Professor Chris Bullen and Associate Professor Natalie Walker from the University of Auckland. Collectively a number of posters, symposia, key note addresses and oral presentations were delivered by this team of researchers together making a significant contribution to scientific debate on global tobacco control.
The conference stimulated my thinking around current issues such as the role of vaping, or e- cigarettes, and their contribution to harm minimisation as well as presenting the most current evidence on vaping from a number of perspectives. However, as important as these discussions were, what I really enjoyed was the more philosophical debates. These ranged from the role of incentivisation in quitting and the morality or otherwise of this, the role of government and legislation in achieving smokefree nation status and the counter arguments about free choice to topics such as the broader commitment of national treaties such as the FCTC to indigenous people.
I was left feeling excited by the open and often vigorous debate that was held in small oral presentations where informal conversations erupted with experts from around the globe.
Pre-Conference meeting with researchers associated with the SRNT Inequalities Network
Those with an interest in indigenous tobacco control met before the conference started as part of the inequalities network. This provided an opportunity to advance the agenda of indigenous tobacco control globally. A special thank you to Anaru Waa for facilitating this discussion and co-ordinating much of the indigenous networking and presentation that occurred at the conference. Meeting with partners from the International Tobacco Control research programme, as part of which ASPIRE2025 has two research projects (one directly focused on Māori tobacco control), was also an opportunity to advance discussions about the need to focus on indigenous tobacco control.
Meeting of researchers working on the global ITC research programme. From the left; Anaru Waa, Anne Quah, Geoff Fong, Stephanie Erick, David Thomas, Heather Gifford, Richard Edwards and Dan Tautolo.
One line of thinking that we will be progressing now we are back in Aotearoa is writing up how Māori tobacco control leadership continues to shape the tobacco end game solutions within Aotearoa. It is important to recognise the impact of the early leadership by Te Reo Marama and others to frame the tobacco issue as an industry generated problem and highlighting the role of colonisation in tobacco smoking; lobbying of the Māori politicians in efforts towards end game solutions and the role of Māori leadership in spearheading the smokefree2025 efforts for Aotearoa. While it is helpful to have a broader lobby group to advance tobacco control in this country, it is critical to acknowledge the role Māori tobacco control advocates have had and still have in generating the solutions for Māori tobacco smoking.
I was very privileged to be able to participate in the SRNT conference this year in Florence. I joined a group of Aspire2025 researchers from Aotearoa including Pacific researchers, Stephanie Erick (now working with Hāpai Te Hauora) and Dr El-Shadan (Dan) Tuatolo (AUT), along with Anaru Waa, and Professors Richard Edwards and Janet Hoek from the University of Otago. Aotearoa was also represented by Professor Chris Bullen and Associate Professor Natalie Walker from the University of Auckland. Collectively a number of posters, symposia, key note addresses and oral presentations were delivered by this team of researchers together making a significant contribution to scientific debate on global tobacco control.
The conference stimulated my thinking around current issues such as the role of vaping, or e- cigarettes, and their contribution to harm minimisation as well as presenting the most current evidence on vaping from a number of perspectives. However, as important as these discussions were, what I really enjoyed was the more philosophical debates. These ranged from the role of incentivisation in quitting and the morality or otherwise of this, the role of government and legislation in achieving smokefree nation status and the counter arguments about free choice to topics such as the broader commitment of national treaties such as the FCTC to indigenous people.
I was left feeling excited by the open and often vigorous debate that was held in small oral presentations where informal conversations erupted with experts from around the globe.
Pre-Conference meeting with researchers associated with the SRNT Inequalities Network
Those with an interest in indigenous tobacco control met before the conference started as part of the inequalities network. This provided an opportunity to advance the agenda of indigenous tobacco control globally. A special thank you to Anaru Waa for facilitating this discussion and co-ordinating much of the indigenous networking and presentation that occurred at the conference. Meeting with partners from the International Tobacco Control research programme, as part of which ASPIRE2025 has two research projects (one directly focused on Māori tobacco control), was also an opportunity to advance discussions about the need to focus on indigenous tobacco control.
Meeting of researchers working on the global ITC research programme. From the left; Anaru Waa, Anne Quah, Geoff Fong, Stephanie Erick, David Thomas, Heather Gifford, Richard Edwards and Dan Tautolo.
One line of thinking that we will be progressing now we are back in Aotearoa is writing up how Māori tobacco control leadership continues to shape the tobacco end game solutions within Aotearoa. It is important to recognise the impact of the early leadership by Te Reo Marama and others to frame the tobacco issue as an industry generated problem and highlighting the role of colonisation in tobacco smoking; lobbying of the Māori politicians in efforts towards end game solutions and the role of Māori leadership in spearheading the smokefree2025 efforts for Aotearoa. While it is helpful to have a broader lobby group to advance tobacco control in this country, it is critical to acknowledge the role Māori tobacco control advocates have had and still have in generating the solutions for Māori tobacco smoking.
