PASIG CITY, Philippines - s4story -- As Australia closes its last legal pathway to nicotine pouches this week, the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) says the region's own evidence is still largely absent from the rooms where such decisions get made. That gap is exactly what the Asia Forum on Nicotine (AFN26) is designed to close, when 17 speakers from 10 countries convene in Manila on 16 and 17 October 2026 for two days of evidence-based tobacco harm reduction policy discussion.

AFN26 follows the inaugural AFN25, which convened virtually in 2025 to bring regional data and lived experience into the global nicotine policy debate. This year's edition moves to a hybrid format at the Astoria Hotel, Ortigas, 15 J. Escriva Drive, Pasig City, with free registration for both in-person and virtual attendees. In-person seating is capped at 60; the full programme will also be simulcast live and free on CAPHRA's YouTube channel, with recordings available afterward. Registration closes 15 October 2026.

"Australia has just shown what happens when regulators write nicotine policy without the region's own evidence in the room," said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA's Executive Coordinator and AFN26 moderator. "AFN26 puts our own data, our own case studies and our own consumers in front of the people who set the rules, instead of leaving Asia-Pacific out of its own policy conversation."

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Confirmed speakers include Prof Marewa Glover (New Zealand), Dr Alex Wodak (Australia), Dr Hiroya Kumamaru (Japan), Prof Tikki Pangestu (Indonesia), Michael Ellis (UK), Prof Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh (Malaysia), Dr Rohan Savio Sequeira (India), Asa Saligupta (Thailand), Ron Christian Sison (Philippines) and Loucas herself, among 17 total speakers spanning the UK, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.

Day one, Friday 16 October, covers the state of THR across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, followed by sessions on evidence and lived experience, real-world THR outcomes, and "Consumers and the FCTC – A Seat at the Table." Day two, Saturday 17 October, is a press conference and media briefing in the morning.

"A regional forum only matters if it changes what happens next in policy rooms," Loucas said. "That's the measure we're holding AFN26 to."

Media wishing to request interviews with speakers ahead of the event, or accreditation for the 17 October press conference, can contact CAPHRA directly. Registration and the full speaker list are available at afn.asia.