Stefaan Hendrickx

Senior Staff Member Tobacco

Flemish Institute for Healthy Living

Biography

Stefaan Hendrickx is a sociologist (University of Leuven) and has been working on tobacco for the Flemish Institute for Healthy Living for 12 years. Within the organization he is responsible for the substantive coordination of the theme, development of methodologies, advice for the Flemish government, development of projects with a new focus such as tobacco-related health inequalities, etc. The last 7 to 8 years the e-cigarette and other substantially less risky products for smokers have been added to this, first in the background, now as a main theme. These products also lead to a great deal of debate in Flanders. Between 2020 and 2022 Stefaan contributed to a new advice from the Belgian Superior Health Council on e-cigarettes. He provided clarification on global developments and polarization and helped ensure that the existing scientific evidence for the opportunities of the e-cigarette was included. This nuanced advice focuses on both the risks and the opportunities and for the first time takes into account Tobacco Harm Reduction as a possible strategy for smokers. He will talk about this new advice, about the link between public health and tobacco harm reduction and about his own experiences with the polarization and evolution of this theme in Flanders.