Health Minister accuses tobacco companies of being involved in racket

20 Jan, 2019

Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne today accused tobacco companies based in Sri Lanka of being involved in a racket to mislead the public on the use of cigarettes in the country.

Senaratne said that some companies are importing illegal?cigarettes and distributing them in the market to give the impression that there is a high number of people smoking cigarettes in the country.

He said that Sri Lanka has implemented 9 out of the 10 recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to limit the use of?cigarettes in the country.

The Minister also said that taxes on?cigarettes had been increased to discourage the use of?cigarettes.

However, he said that?some companies are importing illegal?cigarettes and distributing them in the market to give the impression that there has not been a drop in the number of people smoking?cigarettes. (Colombo Gazette)

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