Representation and inclusion yield more robust ideas and innovations.
On Wednesday 30 March, we had the privilege of hosting Aishat Alaran for a twitter chat interview about female leadership in THR. Aishat is a Pharmacist, Public Health Researcher, and leader in THR advocacy based in Nigeria. She spoke compellingly at the recent Africa Tobacco Harm Reduction Forum, and ever since then we have been eager to interview her. For the choice of topic, we were inspired by thr.net‘s #WomenInTHR series, which is celebrated on the first Wednesday of every month.
During the twitter chat, Aishat cited her mother as her constant source of inspiration: “She is exceptional, and relentless in her pursuit of success”. In the same vein, Aishat takes her leadership position at Campaign for Safer Alternatives very seriously, which has the goal of helping the growing number of smokers in Africa quit or switch safer, non-combustible nicotine alternatives.
Aishat pointed to the fact that just as smoking is not limited to a particular gender, neither should the fight to reduce it be restricted to a single gender. Representation and inclusion yield more robust ideas and innovations. One of her THR role models, and supervisor during her THR Scholarship, is Professor Marewa Glover. Professor Glover has been a leader in the THR space for 25 years, with over 100 publications to her name.
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