MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today announced Asia Day – The Good Cop 2.0, to be held on 19 November 2025, in parallel with the WHO’s COP11.
Asia Day will bring together consumer advocates, public health experts, medical professionals, and policymakers to highlight the urgent need for proportionate regulation of reduced-risk products.
“Asia Pacific cannot afford another decade of ‘quit or die’ policies,” said Clarisse Virgino, CAPHRA representative for the Philippines. “Harm reduction has worked for HIV, alcohol, and drugs. It is hypocrisy to deny it for tobacco, especially when millions of lives are at stake.”
According to Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator for CAPHRA “Asia Day will not be focussed on slogans or ideology. Instead it will be about learning, listening, and engagement on the opportunities and challenges for Tobacco Harm Reduction in the Asia Pacific region.”
This event will be a remedial moment — a chance to bring the conversation back to science, humanity, and common sense. The participants will explore consumer perspectives, medical and public-health evidence, the consequences of denialism, and end with a discussion on balancing innovation and public health.
Asia Day is part of the Good COP 2.0 being run by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, an independent, consumer-focused event running alongside the FCTC COP11. It offers an open forum for the voices excluded from WHO’s closed-door proceedings: consumers, independent scientists, and journalists. Advocates demand that evidence, choice, and human rights must take precedence in global tobacco policy. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/4nLbsyd.
Media Contact
N.E. Loucas
Executive Coordinator, CAPHRA
neloucas@caphraorg.net
www.caphraorg.net