Harry Shapiro

Harry’s blog 126: Tobacco harm reduction and ‘Podsnappery’

Jan. 9, 2025

Mr Podsnap is a minor character in Charles Dickens’ novel Our Mutual Friend. Mr Podsnap was “well to do, and stood very high in Mr. Podsnap's opinion”. He was noted for his ignorant and wanto...

Harry’s blog 125: Deal with what’s in front of you

Dec. 9, 2024

The introduction to the government’s 294-page risk assessment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which has yet to become law as it passes through the various stages of parliamentary procedure states:In...

Harry’s blog 124: Giving a voice to the voiceless.

Dec. 2, 2024

Imagine the outcome if your local park football team took on Real Madrid. This is equivalent to the challenge faced by tobacco harm reduction consumer activists trying to take on the well-funded a...

Harry’s blog 123: It was twenty years ago today/Hon Lik showed a brand-new way

May 29, 2024

New report to map the journey of tobacco harm reductionYes, it has been a while since the last blog, but the main reason is the need to push on with the next Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction...

Harry’s blog 122: Tobacco harm reduction is a human rights issue

Nov. 2, 2023

A guiding principle of the World Health Organization (WHO) established in 1948, was the universal right to health. Although not expressed in these terms, the implication is that nobody gets left b...

Harry’s blog 121: International tobacco control and the search for intelligent life

Oct. 17, 2023

KAC has published an updated version of our Briefing Paper on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s Conference of the Parties (FCTC COP) meeting due to take place in Panama in November. Wh...

Harry’s blog 120: Bent as a boomerang: vaping politics in Australia.

Aug. 31, 2023

Dr Colin Mendelsohn is a well-respected tobacco harm reduction expert who wrote an article for the Australian website Education HQ advising schools on strategies to deal with vaping among students...

Harry’s Blog 119: Who cares about tobacco control?

Aug. 10, 2023

The word ‘framework’ indicates that ultimately it is down to the signatories as to how they interpret or add flesh to a convention. Technically such conventions are ‘legally binding’, but this doe...

Harry’s Blog 118: Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird

April 17, 2023

Professor Lynn Kozlowski has written several papers on the human rights aspect of providing accurate public health information, arguing that people have a right-to-know so they can be equipped wit...

Harry’s Blog 117: An Unholy Trinity

March 9, 2023

Michael Bloomberg is the WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries. He says in the WHO press release announcing the summit, “Noncommunicable diseases and injuries are leading...