At the moment the male smokers' percentage in Sri Lanka is 26 percent and one in every four men in Sri Lanka smokes, the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Chairman Dr. Palitha Abeykoon said.
Addressing the launching ceremony of Community Driven Tobacco Surveillance System organized by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo in collaboration with the World Health Organization Country Office for Sri Lanka and the NATA held in Colombo yesterday he said that it is expected to reduce the percentage of male smokers in Sri Lanka to 10 percent or less in next few years.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake said that the University of Colombo is smoke and polythene free. Smoking should be recognized as a social crime. The service of the Director of the Centre for Combating Tobacco Dr. Mahesh Rajasuriya is highly commendable because one should have guts and a lot of courage to act against the tobacco industry.
The Public Health Administrator of the World Health Organization Country Office for Sri Lanka Dr. Olivia Corazon Nieveras said that Sri Lanka has done a lot when it comes to controlling tobacco and also done many good things for the advancement of health. Sri Lanka will be able to eliminate tobacco soon.
Dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Colombo Prof. Jennifer Perera, Dr. Mahesh Rajasuriya and fw others were also spoke.
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