President tells world to resist attempts of tobacco industry to undermine control

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday urged the international community to resist the attempts of the tobacco industry to undermine tobacco control through litigation and interference in Government policymaking.

“We know that the industry will try to influence policymakers in many ways, often support petitioners to challenge Government legislation and persuade the mass media. This to me is direct interference in the internal policy matters of any country. We need not have any compromise of any kind with the tobacco industry,” stated President Sirisena, delivering the keynote address at the 7th Session of the Conference of Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) held in Noida, India.

“Since I assumed the Office of President in early 2015, tobacco and alcohol control has been at the top of my national agenda. I have set up a presidential taskforce to monitor the situation with regard to drugs and narcotics,” he said.

“We are also addressing the tobacco issue in numerous other ways by having adopted very strict air pollution laws, banning smoking in public and closed spaces,” Sirisena added.

Following are excerpts from the keynote speech delivered by President Sirisena.

We in Sri Lanka have accepted many of the recommendations of the FCTC from the time we ratified it in 2005. Sri Lanka was one of the first countries in the South-East Asia region to sign the FCTC and to later ratify it. Then, in line with the FCTC, we passed our own Tobacco and Alcohol Act in 2006 and set up the Tobacco and Alcohol Authority, popularly known as NATA. I believe our NATA is rather unique in the region and elsewhere because it is perhaps the only such organisation that covers both tobacco and alcohol. There are some historical and technical reasons for this.

Since I assumed the Office of President in early 2015, tobacco and alcohol control has been at the top of my national agenda. I have set up a presidential taskforce to monitor the situation with regard to drugs and narcotics. In fact, I hold a monthly review meeting where all relevant sectors meet to assess the progress and make multi-sectoral policies and plans. 

In line with the recommendations of the FCTC, we have also reviewed the tobacco taxation policies and just a month ago we have been able to increase tobacco taxes by nearly 10% again. 

My Minister of Health, Dr. Rajitha, is proposing to introduce plain packaging as another important measure in the near future; and here, we thank the FCTC for the excellent technical support. We are drawing freely from the lessons and experiences of some of the countries that have already introduced plain packaging.

We are also addressing the tobacco issue in numerous other ways, by having adopted very strict air pollution laws, banning smoking in public and closed spaces. Advertising of tobacco is totally prohibited, although, like in most countries, the tobacco industry adopts very shrewd tactics to promote tobacco to vulnerable groups, especially to schoolchildren. In all our work, we have found informed and willing guidance from the FCTC and the WHO extremely helpful.

We hope that together with you, Sri Lanka will be able to emerge as one of the emerging economies that successfully eliminates tobacco as a public health problem.

I recall Dr. Margaret Chan addressing the COP 6 and emphasising the need to resist the attempts of the tobacco industry to undermine tobacco control through litigation and interference in Government policymaking. 

I experienced this firsthand when I was the Minister of Health until the end of 2014 and tried to bring legislation to include pictorial health warnings covering 75% on cigarette packets, in line with the FCTC guidelines to control the harm from tobacco, particularly among children. 

I spent many days and hours in courthouses as the tobacco industry filed a series of cases challenging this move. After a long delay, the court finally reduced the percentage cover down to a maximum of 60%. That was all we could get at that time. Once I became the President, however, I could intervene again. I requested my Minister of Health to bring a new Bill to Parliament to increase the pictorial warnings to cover 80% of the surface. Finally, we could achieve it. 

As we know from long experience, the tobacco industry often distorts and challenges the best scientific knowledge, promotes dishonest arguments that have nothing to do with the truth. We know that the industry will try to influence policymakers in many ways, often support petitioners to challenge Government legislation and persuade the mass media. This, to me, is direct interference in the internal policy matters of any country. We need not have any compromise of any kind with the tobacco industry. 

Another issue that we have to guard against is the illicit trade of tobacco products. This is doubly so when we strengthen our tobacco control legislation and policies, especially our taxation policies. It can pose a major threat to public health and undermine our national tobacco control policies. It helps to avoid measures, like increases in taxes which we know will reduce demand. 

All these mean that we will not be able to effectively implement and take full advantage of the provisions in the treaty.  Therefore, it is essential that more parties ratify this protocol quickly, so that it can become law. 

I need to bring to your attention to the growing serious problem of smokeless tobacco in Sri Lanka and in the region. While a form of betel-chewing is a deep-seated lifestyle, commercial preparations are also becoming popular mostly among the younger generation in Sri Lanka, especially among urban and semi-urban communities. 

A large body of scientific evidence shows the strong link between smokeless tobacco use and several serious health outcomes, mainly mouth cancer. I would urge the FCTC to address the issue of smokeless tobacco also very seriously in the years to come. The cost of neglect can be very high.