TobaccoUnmasked

Welcome to TobaccoUnmasked

TobaccoUnmasked is the information portal of the Centre for Combating Tobacco (CCT). It contains evidence based information on the tobacco industry, with detailed profiles of tobacco companies relevant to Sri Lanka and their employees. The pages of this website also contain profiles of tobacco industry allies; institutions and individuals linked with the industry in various ways.

TobaccoUnmasked describes strategies adopted by the tobacco industry in the themes of influencing policy, tobacco tax & price related issues, corporate social investments, tobacco cultivation and marketing and promotion. Tobacco industry arguments and their responses against different policy processes are reported as a learning exercise for future reference.

How to Find Information on TobaccoUnmasked

There are several ways in which you can find information on TobaccoUnmasked:

You can search for a specific topic in the Search Bar on the top of the screen. To search, type the topic you want to find the information into the box, and press 'Enter'.
If its a recent issue, you can go through the list of most recent pages in the ‘What’s New section’ which will display new entries or major updates to the existing pages.
Or, you can search through the ‘Key Topics’ section that categorizes the pages based on the themes the investigations were conducted.
Searching for an individual? Click the relevant category below for an easy search:

Disclaimer:The individual profiles are published only to facilitate implementation of FCTC Article 5.3. It is not the intention of the TobaccoUnmasked team to tarnish the individuals' image nor to cause them harm. The list of individuals under each category is not complete and only based on the findings of the ongoing investigative research of the TobaccoUnmasked team. The posts and the lists are constantly updated with new findings.

What’s New on TobaccoUnmasked?

05th August 2020 - The Week 20 of our Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic post is published. In addition, new information emerged on Week 7 and Week 10. We will continue to update this page every Wednesday during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay posted for newest information and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for latest updates.
31st July 2020 - Piyasena Gamage is the newest profile of our series on Politicians. A Member of the previous parliament and a candidate for the upcoming General Elections. Await more posts in the Politicians series as Sri Lankans prepare to elect their 9th Parliament in five days.
29th July 2020 - Today is the Week 19 of our Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic post. During the past week, new information emerged on Week 3 and Week 5. We will continue to update this page every Wednesday during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay posted for newest information and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for latest updates.
28th July 2020 - We have uploaded two new profiles under our Politicians Category - Lakshman Kiriella and Kumara Welgama. Await for more Politicians' profiles as General Elections 2020 draws near.
22nd July 2020 - We have added the Week 18 summary to the Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic page. In addition, new information emerged on the weeks 1, 15 and 16. We will continue to update this page every Wednesday until the COVID-19 pandemic situation is over. So look forward for newest information and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for latest updates.
21st July 2020 - We have updated the page on Basil Rajapaksa a politician in Sri Lanka with newly emerged information on engagement with the tobacco industry. Even though he is not a candidate for the 2020 General Elections, he is related to both the President (Gotabaya Rajapaksa) and the Prime Minister (Mahinda Rajapaksa) of Sri Lanka, and is a powerful figure in the Sri Lankan political arena.
20th July 2020 - Gamini Jayawickrama Perera is a Sri Lankan politician and the former Chairperson of the United National Party (UNP), one of the two major political parties that formed the joint government in the previous parliament. Await more TobaccoUnmasked posts on Politicians, revealing their affiliations, interests and engagements with the tobacco industry, as Sri Lankans prepare for the General Elections in August 2020.
17th July 2020 - Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is the newest profile of our series on Politicians. A Member of the previous parliament and a past Minister of Agriculture, he is a candidate for the upcoming General Elections. Await more posts in the Politicians series as Sri Lankans prepare to elect their 9th Parliament next month.
16th July 2020 - The newest post in our post series on Politicians is Douglas Devananda a Member of the previous parliament and a past Minister of Agriculture. Await more posts in the series as Sri Lanka is preparing to elect its 9th Parliament in August 2020.
15th July 2020 - We have updated the Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic page with the information emerged during the past week. The Week 17 is added and based on readers' requests we have added a section on Contribution of Tobacco to COVID-19 mortality to the Background section. In addition, new information emerged on the weeks 15 and 16. We will continue to update it every Wednesday until the COVID-19 pandemic situation is over. So look forward for newest information and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for latest updates.
12th July 2020 - Duminda Dissanayake, the Minister of Agriculture of the previous parliament, is the newest post in our post series on Politicians. Await more posts in the series as Sri Lanka is preparing to elect its 9th Parliament in August 2020.
10th July 2020 - We have updated our page on Ministry of Agriculture: Ministers and Officials based on the information newly surfaced on candidates of the 2020 General Elections. Await more page updates in the coming month based on our investigations of the members of the previous parliament and novel candidates of the 2020 General Elections of Sri Lanka.
09th July 2020 - Ravi Karunanayake is the newest post in our post series on Politicians. Await more posts in the series as Sri Lanka is preparing to elect its 9th Parliament in August 2020. The Politicians who have a history of engagement with the tobacco industry or interfered in tobacco control policies and actions will be featured in TobaccoUnmasked, based on our investigations on the members of the previous parliament and the candidates for the coming elections.
07th July 2020 - Its our 3rd Birthday!!! To celebrate yet another milestone of TobaccoUnmasked, we bring to you a timely and relevant post - Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic. This post summarises the tobacco industry interference and activities all over the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. We plan to update it every Wednesday so look forward for newest information and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for latest updates.
01st July 2020 - Kabir Hashim is the latest addition to our page series on Politicians. Await more pages in the series in the month of July as Sri Lanka is preparing to elect its 9th Parliament in August 2020. The Politicians who have a history of engagement with the tobacco industry or interfered in tobacco control policies and actions will be featured in TobaccoUnmasked, based on our investigations on the members of the previous parliament and the candidates for the coming elections.

Key Topics

Click on the key topics below to access more information on tobacco industry and its activities in Sri Lanka. Interested in the definitions for each key topic to understand the reason for categorising the pages under them? Please visit our page Key Topics.

Background

Includes pages on global and national tobacco control laws and policies and tobacco industry tactics

Tobacco Industry

Includes pages directly related to the tobacco industry under following themes;

Tobacco Industry Activities

Includes pages on tobacco industry actions and strategies under following themes;

Tobacco Industry Arguments and Responses

Includes pages on responses and reactions of the tobacco industry under following themes;

Institutions Linked to the Tobacco Industry

Includes pages on institutions reported to date to have had any interactions with tobacco industry or their proxies under following themes;

Individuals associated with the Tobacco Industry

Includes pages on politicians, government officials, celebrities, academics, researchers, professionals and other public/popular figures to have had any interaction reported to date with tobacco industry under following categories;

Individuals and Institutions Interfering in Tobacco Control

Include pages on individuals and institutions that opposed or took action to delay tobacco control policies or actions or propagated the interests of the tobacco industry, however, with no proven link with the tobacco industry to date.

Partner Organizations

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About Us

CCT is the Sri Lankan tobacco observatory established at the Faculty of Medicine University of Colombo under the Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The aim of the CCT is to monitor the tobacco industry activities related to implementation of Article 5.3 in Sri Lanka and the region.

Our implementation partners include; Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) Sri Lanka, National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol(NATA) and the Expert Committee on Tobacco, Alcohol and Illicit Drugs of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA).

The project was powered by Framework Convention on Tobacco Control(FCTC)Secretariat and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The UNION) and technical assistance was provided by the Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath and the Centre for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California San Francisco.

Strict Referencing Policy

Information published in tobaccounmasked.lk adheres to a strict referencing policy. You can find the sources of information under the resources list at the end of each post. The posts developed by reporters are edited by the Editor and peer reviewed before publication.

Reproduction and Distribution of Published Material

You are free to copy and redistribute the material for non commerical use with appropriate credit to the CCT. Please acknowledge CCT as the copyright holder by stating: "This material is reproduced from tobaccounmasked.lk. Copyright, Centre for Combating Tobacco and used under permission of the Centre for Combating Tobacco. All rights reserved."

Suggested citation: Centre for Combating Tobacco, Faculty of Medicine University of Colombo. TobaccoUnmasked, 2017, Available at http://tobaccounmasked.lk/index.php?title=Main_Page, Accessed (date accessed).

Acknowledgments

TobaccoUnmasked follows the model of TobaccoTactics, introduced by Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath. CCT wishes to acknowledge the library of the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) Sri Lanka for providing literature to develop TobaccoUnmasked posts.