Sri Lanka- Country Profile
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Sri Lanka- Country Profile, Tobacco Tactics, updated 19 July 2023, accessed 10 April 2024.
Sri Lanka is an island nation in the Indian Ocean with a population of 20.2 million.1 Tobacco cultivation was first introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese in the 16th century and it is speculated that they also introduced the habit of tobacco smoking.2
Smoking in Sri Lanka
According to the 2015 STEPWise approach to Surveillance (STEPs) Non-Communicable Disease risk factor survey results by the World Health Organization and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, current tobacco smoking prevalence among those aged between 18 and 69 years was 15.0% with a daily smoking prevalence rate of 10.2%. The reported prevalence for current tobacco smoking among men was 29.4% and 0.1% among women.3
Results from the July 2015 Spot Survey conducted by the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC), on males over the age of 15 years, reported a steady decrease of tobacco smoking prevalence from the beginning of the 1990s to 2015 (Image 1). 4
Burden of Tobacco Use
Tobacco is estimated to be responsible for 1 in every 10 adult deaths in Sri Lanka accounting for 222 deaths per week.5 The reported annual revenue of the Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) PLC Ltd. in 2015, Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) 106.5 Billion, (the equivalent of approximately 722 Million US dollars) indicates the economic burden of tobacco on Sri Lankan households.6 Local evidence from academics Varuni De Silva and colleagues suggests some rural low income households in Sri Lanka spend around 40% of their income on tobacco.7
The Tobacco Market
British American Tobacco (BAT), holds a monopoly share of the Sri Lankan tobacco market, operating via its local counterpart British American Tobacco Holdings (Sri Lanka). The company owns 84.13% of the shares of the Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC Ltd (CTC) which is responsible for the entire manufacturing process from tobacco cultivation to cigarette production in Sri Lanka. CTC owns 99% of the market with the remaining 1% comprising of imported cigarettes.8 Almost 100% of the tobacco used for cigarette manufacturing in Sri Lanka is cultivated in the country, which accounted for approximately 3000 tons of tobacco in 2014.9 CTC also exports its manufactured cigarettes, which contributes approximately 1% to its overall annual revenue.
Tobacco Control Initiatives
Sri Lanka was the first country in Asia to ratify the world’s first global public health treaty, the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), and the fourth globally.10 It is also the first country in the South East Asian Region (SEAR) to introduce tobacco control legislation. The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act (NATA Act) was enacted in 2006 to protect public health from tobacco and alcohol related harm.11
National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act12
NATA act prohibits;
- sale to or by persons under 21 years of age;
- installation of vending machines for tobacco products;
- sale of tobacco products without health warning and the tar, nicotine content in each tobacco product;
- tobacco advertisements and sponsorships etc;
- free distribution etc of tobacco products;
- offences relating to trademarks;
- smoking in public places.
Packaging and Labelling Regulations 14
On 1 June 2015 Sri Lanka implemented pictorial health warnings covering 80% of the top surface area of both front and back covers of tobacco packets, which also includes a text message in all three languages used in the country (Sinhala, Tamil and English).
Price and Tax Measures
Tobacco tax in Sri Lanka is governed by the Tobacco Tax Act.1516 Tobacco tax was revised on two occasions in 2016, and the price of the most sold brand of cigarette, John Player Gold Leaf, was raised by 143% (from LKR 35 to LKR 50) as a result. Yet, the price remained below a level that would affect the affordability of this brand.17
Community Empowerment and Mobilisation
The general public of Sri Lanka, namely, community based organisations, non-governmental organisations and community groups organised informally, play a major role in tobacco control. Public pressure and support has helped policy makers and politicians to select decisions favourable for public health over alternatives favourable for the industry, for example, pictorial health warnings and advertising bans.181920
Industry Interference in Tobacco Control
The tobacco industry has interfered with the country’s attempts to introduce tobacco control policies.212223 An example of successful tobacco industry interference is when CTC took legal action against the Minister of Health, Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, over the implementation of 80% pictorial health warnings (PHW) for tobacco packets in 2012.24 Mr. Maithripala Sirisena who later became the President of Sri Lanka in 2015, was the Minister of Health during the period of implementation of PHWs. He publicly claimed that the CTC tried to bribe him during the process, even though CTC denied the accusation.25262728
Furthermore, in 2015 CTC executives continued to hold posts in government institutions, thereby allowing them access to the policy making process. In addition, CTC is also accused of point-of-sale advertising and promotion, strategic targeting of youth and women in marketing campaigns and influencing communities via retailers and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) based activities.2930
Monitoring Tobacco Industry Interference
In June 2016, Sri Lanka launched the Centre for Combating Tobacco (CCT), a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) tobacco industry observatory. CCT’s remit is to monitor tobacco industry interference at different levels. It’s information portal TobaccoUnmasked, replicates the model of the Tobacco Control Research Group’sTobaccoTactics website at the University of Bath and disseminates information on tobacco industry violations of the FCTC’s Article 5.3. In August 2017, CCT initiated the first ever public hotline on Article 5.3, giving public the opportunity to report violations of Article 5.3 from grass-root level upwards.
External Resources
