Research seminar: Legal dimensions of protecting children against tobacco-related harm

On Tuesday 27 June 2017 the University of Groningen will host a seminar about the legal dimensions of protecting children against tobacco-related harm.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), six million people die annually due to tobacco- related illness. In this context, children are particularly vulnerable. For instance, children often work in tobacco farming, they are specifically targeted by the tobacco industry as ‘replacement smokers’, and often cannot withdraw themselves from situations in which is smoked. In addition, it is important to note that according to American research, 90% of all smokers start before the age of 18.

While many tobacco-related studies use the adoption of a law, regulation, or policy as timeline or benchmark, we aim to set the stage for more normative discussions into the legal aspects of protecting children against tobacco-related harm. The seminar on Tuesday 27 June will be about the responsibility private actors have to prevent (health)damage, the position of unborn children under the human rights system, principles such as best interest of the child and autonomy, applying human rights to the complex problem of taking care of the chronically ill and the necessity to protect children against symptoms which usually do not manifest themselves until much later in life.

It will be an interesting meeting with engaging speakers such as Prof. Anton Kunst of the Academic Medical Center and Prof. Ton Liefaard of Leiden University. More information and the full programme can be found via the buttons below.

The seminar is open to a multidisciplinary scientific audience, practitioners, and civil society representatives. While participation is free of charge, there are only limited spaces available and registration is required.

Please e-mail Marie Elske Gispen ( m.e.c.gispen@rug.nl ) before 20 June 2017 to register for this event and indicate whether you will stay for the reception.