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Wednesday, 19 July 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol has taken measures to strictly impose the banning of tobacco products in Sri Lanka in accordance with the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act No. 27 of 2006 prohibiting non-smoking tobacco products.
According to this regulation, no person shall manufacture, import, sell or offer for sale smokeless tobacco products, as well as any electronic cigarettes or any flavoured, coloured or sweetened cigarettes that contain tobacco.
As per the provisions of the Act, public health inspectors, food inspectors, excise officers and police officers are acting as authorised officers to impose the regulations.
Most of the smokeless tobacco products contain tobacco and areca nuts. Both groups are classified as First Class carcinogens by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to national documents on cancer, 14.3% of all registered cancer patients are oral cancer patients and annually more than 1,000 deaths and on average three deaths per day are estimated to be due to the oral cancer. Annually cancer hospitals report of 2,400 patients with oral cancer, according to the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol.
The Regulations on Prohibited Tobacco Products were made last year by Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, under the provisions of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act.
