Venue: CSIR ICC (Amethyst)

Smoking kills. Approximately 8 million people die prematurely each year. That is ten-times the population of Pretoria or twice that of Johannesburg. Vaping we are not yet quite sure about. Is it, as the UK Mail Online April 2023 headline claimed: “The Crack Cocaine of Tobacco”? This panel brings together leading public health experts from Africa, Europe and North America to examine the science and public opinion for and against vaping, asking what regulators playing catch-up ought to do next.
Divided in two parts, firstly, top scientists will explain why addiction starts and ends with the brain. We get the latest insights from the Deputy-Director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH-NIDA) on addiction science, on substance-use disorders and on how to treat the addicted brain. Then we take a look inside the world’s largest public health research programme at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), to see what evidence-based toxicology is discovering right now. A clear focus will be on tackling common misconceptions, for example, that vaping is more addictive than smoking or that nicotine damages brain development in young people. The inherent health risks around vaping technologies and their batteries, heavy-metals, flavourings etc. will equally be addressed.
Secondly, we pay particular attention to policy responses world-wide, inviting on-stage as discussants a chief scientist accustomed to advising elected officials on how to regulate risk and a senior health expert from within South Africa’s science-system. During an open debate moderated by a science journalist, we ask if African states really do get to decide for themselves and if so, does it really matter? The global picture from acceptance to partial and total bans is a mess. As thousands of products enter the market and specialised shops cannot be built fast enough, society at large is unclear what to think or do about vapes. Users are increasingly asking for more reliable information about their products too. Concerned citizens are upset that regulators are playing catch-up with accurate labelling, batteries that are safety tested and vapour that has been risk assessed. While experts for and against mount onslaughts at the WHO, evidence-based science appears to be taking a back seat. Will the end-game be regulation as a tobacco, consumer or medicinal product? The panel’s common purpose is to encourage African regulators to follow the science. In so doing, they can help reduce the affordability, appeal, accessibility and promotion of vapes to children, while at the same time ensuring that adult smokers are not discouraged from using vaping to quit smoking.
Moderator & Co-organiser
Mandi Smallhorne (South Africa)
President, South African Science Journalists’ Association (SASJA) & Steering Committee, World Conference of Science Journalists 2025, Pretoria. View bio
Part 1: Scientific presentations
Understanding addictions & their brain reward systems (pre-recorded).
Dr Wilson Compton (USA)
Deputy Director of the USA National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (NIH-NIDA). View bio
Understanding toxicology: vaping versus smoking – the lesser of two evils?
Prof. Thomas Hartung (Germany)
Chair of Evidence-based Toxicology in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. View bio
Part 2: Open debate: The ethics of intervening in the lives of others
Video Presentation (7 minutes): “Covid19 alcohol & tobacco bans: South Africa in the global news”.
Understanding discrimination & promoting access to healthcare (5 mins).
Prof. Solly Rataemane M.D. (South Africa): Chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Mental Health; Former Professor and Head of the Psychiatric Department at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) and Dr George Mukari Academic Hospital. View bio
Understanding how science advisers help regulate risk (5 mins).
Prof. Rémi Quirion (Canada): Inaugural Scientific Director, Institute of Neuroscience, Mental Health & Addictions, Canadian Institute of Health Research. View bio
Session organiser(s)
Mandi Smallhorne (South Africa)
President, South African Science Journalists’ Association (SASJA) & Steering Committee, World Conference of Science Journalists 2025, Pretoria. View bio
Aidan Gilligan
CEO, SciCom – Making Sense of Science
View bio