SCIENCE OF CHANGES

In today's world, innovation has evolved into a catalyst for both technological progress and business growth. In today's global economy, it is a critical factor in determining a nation's competitiveness, potential business opportunities, and, most importantly, the quality of life for its population. The 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for research demonstrating that sustainable development is impossible without the constant renewal of technology, the accumulation of knowledge and the creation of conditions for the implementation of new solutions.

However, even a promising development may fail to gain widespread adoption due to a lack of investment, imperfect regulation or public mistrust. These issues become particularly complex when innovations directly affect human health.

The international Technovation conference, held on 30 September in Tashkent, was precisely based on this broad perspective on technological transformation.

Rules of the game

Marco Mariotti, PMI's President for South Asia, Indochina and the CIS, opened the conference by emphasising that international companies that have long been operating in the country should view it not only as a sales market, but also help to attract new investors, disseminate knowledge and foster an innovative environment.

Azizbek Urunov, the Representative of the President of Uzbekistan to the World Trade Organization and chief negotiator for the country's accession to the WTO, described innovation as the most important tool for economic growth and for strengthening the state's position in global markets.

In this context, a key condition for successful transformation is also the willingness of businesses to rethink their established operating models, invest in research and demonstrate the effectiveness of new solutions through scientific data.

The role of regulation is no less significant. The state is obliged to ensure the protection of public interests without creating unjustified barriers to scientific research and technological development. One of the forum's panel discussions focused on this issue, with participants exploring topics such as consumer protection, market transparency and regulatory approaches for new product categories.

From treatment to prevention

However, in the economic sector, the effectiveness of innovations can be assessed by productivity growth or the volume of investment. In the healthcare sector, the main criterion is their proven impact on human health.

This issue was a key point of discussion during a recent medical and scientific panel meeting, which brought together specialists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The meeting covered a range of topics, including the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases, the early diagnosis of such conditions, a personalised approach to patients, and the scientific assessment of risk factors.

A prime example of this is the vaccination against the human papillomavirus, which helps prevent the development of a number of cancers. This underscores the immense significance of medical innovations that are not merely focused on treating diseases, but rather on preventing them through proactive measures.

At the same time, experts emphasised the need to rely on high-quality research, objective data and long-term observations. The emergence of a new technology does not necessarily guarantee its effectiveness or safety.

Meiram Raganin, a dentist and president of the 'Expert Community of Dentists' in Kazakhstan, spoke about the importance of a comprehensive assessment of health. According to the data presented, there was a clear improvement in the condition of the oral tissues of some adults who had completely switched from conventional cigarettes to heated tobacco products after 6–8 months, compared with those who continued to smoke. However, it should be noted that such observations alone do not allow conclusions to be drawn about the safety of the products or a long-term reduction in the risk of disease. The expert emphasised the need to assess various effects on the basis of laboratory studies, clinical data and long-term observations.

Boris Kasparov—an oncologist and head of the Clinical and Diagnostic Department at the N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Centre for Oncology (Russia). He drew attention to a widespread problem: patients are often advised to simultaneously change their diet, lose weight, increase physical activity, give up harmful habits and reduce stress levels. However, not everyone is capable of implementing such far-reaching changes all at once. According to Kasparov, prevention must take into account a person’s individual characteristics, their age, state of health, psychological readiness and living conditions. Essentially, this involves a shift from one-size-fits-all recommendations to a personalised strategy for lifestyle change. Moreover, its effectiveness is determined by a person’s ability to maintain these new habits over many years.

The doctors’ presentations thus highlighted an important feature of modern medicine: innovation lies not only in the development of new medicines or diagnostic equipment, but also in changing the very approach to prevention, risk assessment and patient engagement.

Behaviour and time

Tomoko Iida, a representative of PMI’s research division, continued the discussion on the complexity of changing habits. She cited Japan as an example, where, according to the data she presented, the proportion of adults who smoke cigarettes has roughly halved over the last decade. The expert attributed this trend, amongst other things, to the emergence of new categories of tobacco products, whilst also noting the importance of government regulation.

Following her presentation, we asked Tomoko Iida several questions as part of the discussion topic—the differentiated regulation of tobacco products and the significance of decisions made by international regulators.

"What is the importance of differentiating between cigarettes and other smoke-free products?"

"In an ideal scenario, every smoker would be able to quit smoking. However, it is evident that this is not the case in reality. Despite being aware of their diagnosis, 65 per cent of cancer patients continue to smoke. We therefore recognise that the most effective option is to cease smoking, but many people do not do so.

"That is precisely why, in our view, it is important to have less harmful alternatives available. Regulation is a key factor in ensuring the accessibility of these products to adult smokers, including their market availability and affordability.

"We believe that it is vital to collaborate with government bodies to establish a regulatory framework that is grounded in scientific evidence."

"What is the significance of the recent decisions by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the global debate on reducing the harm caused by tobacco use?"

"The FDA is one of the most authoritative and rigorous regulators in the field of public health. The Agency's experts conducted a thorough review of the scientific material we had submitted.

"Consequently, specific claims regarding the reduction in exposure to harmful chemicals following a complete switch from cigarettes to specific products were authorised, and claims regarding the reduced risk of certain diseases were also authorised for certain product categories.

"We believe that the international recognition of these research findings confirms the importance of switching to alternative products for adult smokers, who would otherwise continue to use more harmful alternatives."

Thus, Technovation in Tashkent has once again demonstrated that scientific innovations only acquire public significance when accompanied by an objective assessment of results, responsible regulation and an open, professional dialogue. This is particularly important for public health, where the cost of erroneous decisions is measured not in economic terms, but in terms of people’s health. And that is why the main criterion for progress must remain not the novelty of technologies in and of themselves, but their proven benefit to society.