Wanda de Kanter

Speaker June 6, 2026: drs. W. (Wanda) de Kanter
Title lecture: The tobacco lobby: lobbyocracy versus democracy. Parasite of the vulnerable 

During the Regional MWIA (Medical Women’s International Association) Congress, the VNVA Els Borst Oeuvre Award will be presented to Wanda de Kanter.

Drs. Wanda de Kanter is a pulmonologist and an indefatigable advocate against the tobacco industry. For more than 35 years, she dedicated herself to the treatment of lung cancer; since 2021, her focus has shifted entirely to prevention. Her mission is a smoke-free generation. Together with her colleague Pauline Dekker, she co-founded the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation (Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd) in 2009 and has authored several books on smoking cessation.

In addition to her media work—through which she exposes the power and influence of the tobacco industry—she actively pursues legal avenues to drive systemic change. In 2016, together with Bénédicte Ficq, she initiated criminal proceedings against the tobacco industry, and in early 2025 she brought a case before the European Court of Justice to challenge so-called “cheat cigarettes.” As a result of this legal action, Wanda de Kanter, together with Bénédicte Ficq, was named the most influential woman in the Opzij Top 100 in 2018 by Opzij magazine.

Wanda de Kanter also campaigns against the rapidly emerging and highly addictive use of e-cigarettes (vaping), whose harmful effects on the heart and lungs are becoming increasingly evident.