{"id":6345,"date":"2025-06-23T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/?p=6345"},"modified":"2025-06-23T09:57:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:57:42","slug":"tobacco-control-mouths-taped-voices-heard-protest-highlights-consumer-exclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eu\/tobacco-control-mouths-taped-voices-heard-protest-highlights-consumer-exclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Mouths Taped, Voices Heard – Protest Highlights Consumer Exclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dublin, 23 June 2025<\/strong> \u2013 Following yesterday\u2019s lightshow, the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance continues its \u201cVoices Unheard \u2013 Consumers Matter!<\/a>\u201d campaign with a silent protest at the World Conference on Tobacco Control<\/a> (WCTC). Demonstrators, their mouths taped, stand in solidarity outside the conference centre, representing the ongoing exclusion of nicotine consumers from crucial policy discussions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While delegates and experts debate the future of tobacco control inside, consumers remain on the margins\u2014their experiences and voices ignored.<\/p>\n

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance, states:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a symbol of how consumers are silenced in these discussions. <\/em>We are here, our stories matter, and it\u2019s time policymakers started listening.<\/em><\/strong> Instead of banning flavours and safer alternatives, we need policies that protect both youth and adult smokers who want to quit. <\/em>Silencing consumers is not the answer.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The protest comes amid mounting concerns over the World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) aggressive stance against harm reduction, including recent demands to ban flavoured tobacco and nicotine products<\/a>. Such measures risk undermining the progress made by millions of adults who have successfully transitioned away from combustible cigarettes using safer alternatives.<\/p>\n

Alberto G\u00f3mez Hern\u00e1ndez, Policy and Advocacy Manager for the WVA, comments:<\/p>\n

\u201cSafer nicotine alternatives save lives, but only with sensible, evidence-based regulation. Consumers must be included in the conversation. <\/em>Outdated, dogmatic tobacco control policies, which stubbornly ignore the potential of harm reduction, are holding back public health progress.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance calls for genuine consumer inclusion in tobacco control policy, evidence-based harm reduction, and an end to the marginalisation of those who stand to benefit most from progressive, life-saving measures as the world prepares for COP11 in Geneva.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dublin, 23 June 2025 \u2013 Following yesterday\u2019s lightshow, the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance continues its \u201cVoices Unheard \u2013 Consumers Matter!\u201d campaign with a silent protest at the World Conference on Tobacco Control (WCTC). Demonstrators, their mouths taped, stand in solidarity outside the conference centre, representing the ongoing exclusion of nicotine consumers from crucial policy discussions. While […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"yoast_head":"\nMouths Taped, Voices Heard - Protest Highlights Consumer Exclusion - World Vapers' Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eu\/tobacco-control-mouths-taped-voices-heard-protest-highlights-consumer-exclusion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mouths Taped, Voices Heard - Protest Highlights Consumer Exclusion - World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dublin, 23 June 2025 \u2013 Following yesterday\u2019s lightshow, the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance continues its \u201cVoices Unheard \u2013 Consumers Matter!\u201d campaign with a silent protest at the World Conference on Tobacco Control (WCTC). Demonstrators, their mouths taped, stand in solidarity outside the conference centre, representing the ongoing exclusion of nicotine consumers from crucial policy discussions. 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