TPA’s Good COP to Kick Off Monday in Panama

Taxpayers Protection Alliance

February 2, 2024

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kara Zupkus, (224)-456-0257

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) will kick off its Good COP (Conference of the People) programming in Panama on February 5, 2024, at the Central Hotel Panama.

Good COP will feature nearly two dozen tobacco harm reduction experts, representing 14 different countries and highlighting some of the leading experts on consumer issues, national and global policies, and the science surrounding harm reduction.

Good COP will be taking place from Monday, February 5 to Friday, February 9 in Panama City, Panama – several kilometers away from where global delegates will be meeting at the taxpayer-funded World Health Organization (WHO’s) COP (Conference of the Parties) 10. TPA and the Good COP participants will be monitoring the WHO’s meeting and providing running commentary via livestreams, media interviews, blogs, and social media.

TPA’s President, David Williams, offered the following comments:

“The taxpayer-funded WHO ignores science and puts billions of smokers at risk of not having access to life-saving technology to quit smoking. The participants of Good COP will hold the WHO accountable for denying life-saving access to tobacco harm reduction products and denying access to the public and media to these meetings. TPA has long advocated for adult access to safer alternatives to cigarettes and has been alarmed by the prohibitionist-stance the WHO continues to push onto unsuspecting countries which would vastly benefit from adult access to alternative tobacco products including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and oral nicotine options.

“In real time, harm reduction experts from around the globe will be fact-checking and providing commentary on the WHO’s anti-science agenda at COP10. We value the opportunity to inform policymakers and the media about tobacco harm reduction, as well as calling out the WHO’s lack of transparency and their irresponsible public health messaging about tobacco harm reduction.

“This groundbreaking conference is only the start of holding the WHO accountable.  I am humbled to see the energy and enthusiasm of doctors, consumers, and policy groups from around the world that will take part in this effort.”

The event will be livestreamed on TPA’s YouTube channel.

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