Welcome to The E-Cigarette Summit USA 2018
The programme is now available, to download a print version please click here. Registration is open, we expect this event to be fully subscribed – please click here for prices and to register today at the early bird rate.
We are delighted to announce that the 2nd Annual E-Cigarette Summit USA will take place in Washington, DC on April 30, 2018. We are especially pleased that Mitch Zeller, Director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, will deliver the opening address and participate in the morning panel discussion to set out the FDA’s plan for nicotine and tobacco.
Since the inaugural US Summit in 2017 which welcomed 300 attendees, there have been a number of significant regulatory and public health developments in the US. Most prominent among these were FDA’s July 28 announcement of a “comprehensive plan on nicotine and tobacco” and the February report from the National Academy of Sciences (NASEM) on the “Consequences of e-cigarettes on public health.” How these new developments can and should translate into revised regulations, an updated tobacco control and public health policy, and proper clinical guidance to smokers remains a fierce battleground.
The E-cigarette Summit USA provides an evidence-based environment that encourages open and respectful dialogue on the latest science and current public health topics with a single aim of reducing smoking-related death and disease. Awareness of e-cigarettes is high among the public, but there is debate among experts and officials about whether e-cigarettes provide an opportunity to move smokers away from inhaling tobacco smoke or are a menace that will attract those not already using tobacco products. The US Summit will feature expert presentations on current data regarding population patterns of use among youth and adults, results regarding performance, toxicity, and utility of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation and reduction, and the public health impacts surrounding youth initiation and progression as well as impacts on adult smoking behaviour.
The E-Cigarette Summit will feature extensive discussion on the opportunity for comprehensive regulation, principally product regulation at the national level to minimize negative consequences and realize benefits. Presenters will discuss the difficulty of finding a “sweet spot” of regulation where public health is improved optimally by minimizing premature death and disease as rapidly as possible while protecting nonusers and remaining responsive to a tobacco control manifesto.
The role that e-cigarettes could play in ending or extending the smoking epidemic is likely to remain one of the most fiercely fought debates in public health history. We cannot answer every question yet, but we believe that progress is not only possible but imperative. These first important steps to regulate an entirely novel product category will set the agenda for decades to come and is likely to be viewed as a pivotal era in both tobacco control and combustible tobacco use in the future.
What questions will be explored?
The E-Cigarette Summit includes high level briefings from experts and encourages interaction through panel debates and open floor discussions. Questions will be explored in a balanced and objective environment allowing attendees to build their knowledge and share their viewpoints.
- What are the significant similarities and differences between the PHE and the NASEM e-cigarette reports?
- How should the evidence on e-cigarettes be communicated to the American public?
- Is the current and proposed regulatory regime for e-cigarettes fit for purpose or does it need to be reformed and, if so, what needs to be considered to achieve maximum benefits for public health?
- Are American youth experimenting with e-cigarettes more than other countries – what are the appropriate measures?
- How to encourage more smokers to move entirely away from combustible tobacco – what are the necessary actions?
- Current and future research priorities.
- Why has tobacco harm reduction proved to be such a divisive issue – how can we improve dialogue and collaboration?
Who Should Attend?
The E-Cigarette Summit will provide a timely and interactive opportunity for all stakeholders to debate and explore the future of e-cigarettes and the broader issues raised by nicotine without smoke, and will include high-level panel debates from opposing perspectives to ensure a balanced and objective debate.
In particular, this event will be relevant to:
- Regulators and policy advisors
- Health providers and public health advocates
- National, state and local legislators and their staffs
- Public health professionals
- Scientific/research community
- Medical and health professionals
- e-cigarette industry stakeholders