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?

15th September 2025 - National Youth Services Council (NYSC) is a government organisation, which is under the purview of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. NYSC partnered with Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) via its Corporate Social Investment Subsidiary Outreach Projects (Guarantee) Limited in 2022 and 2023. Read more details in our newest page National Youth Services Council.
20th August 2025 - Sri Lanka Customs, functioning under Ministry of Finance, is the main government authority related to illicit cigarettes in Sri Lanka. Their reported partnership with the Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) to destroy seized cigarettes violates FCTC Article 5.3 which recommends not to have partnerships with the tobacco industry. Further, Sri Lanka Customs had awarded Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) the privileged “Authorised Economic Operator” status, violating another recommendation of the FCTC Article 5.3, which instructs parties to not to facilitate the tobacco trade. Read more details in our new page Sri Lanka Customs.
14th August 2025 - Sudath Perera Associates is the legal advisor for Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC). Read their involvement and interference in tobacco control actions in Sri Lanka in our newest page.
04th August 2025 - Harin De Silva Wijeyeratne is a Non-Executive Director in the Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC). You can read his profile in TobaccoUnmasked now.
04th August 2025 - ‘True Patriot’ is a political movement launched by Mangala Samaraweera. Read about its role in promotion of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs in Sri Lanka in our newest page.
02nd August 2025 - The teledrama ‘Meeya’ broadcast in the state television channel Independence Television Network (ITN) portrayed tobacco use on screen, violating the recommendations of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act. You can find more details in our new page.
02nd August 2025 - Chinthana Dharmadasa is a person in the public relations and entertainment industry who are also active in politics. Read his activities related to promotion of tobacco, alcohol and other substances via our Newest Page.
02nd August 2025 - The recently released Sinhala Movie "Rani" Accused of Violating the NATA Act. Read more in our newest page.
28th July 2025 - Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was the first and only female President of Sri Lanka to the date. The Presidential Taskforce on Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention appointed by her laid the foundation for the development and implementation of a policy and legislative framework to control tobacco and alcohol. It was during her term that Excise tax to cigarettes was introduced in Sri Lanka and that we ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). However, she was not immune for the tobacco industry interference. Read details on our newest page on Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
24th July 2025 - Kushan De Alwis was appointed to the Board of Directors of Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) in 2022. Read his profile in our newest TobaccoUnmasked page.
24th July 2025 - An individual going by the name Kumar Ranaweera authored several articles favouring the tobacco industry stance with regards to several tobacco control policies and actions. Read more in our newest TobaccoUnmasked page.
22nd July 2025 - Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) is the subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT) which holds the monopoly in cigarette manufacturing and trade in Sri Lanka. Every year we update the page with new developments. Visit the updated page to find newest information on Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC).
19th July 2025 - Dinesh Weerakkody was an independent director at the Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) from 2014 to 2018. He worked in many government positions during and after his direct affiliation to the CTC. We have updated our page on him with most recent details.
19th July 2025 - NGage Strategic Alliance, founded by Nimal Gunewardena, is a public relations company that liaise closely with the tobacco industry. Read more details on our newest page NGage Strategic Alliance.
18th July 2025 - Swarna Mallawaarachchi is a popular actress in Sri Lanka. Her recent portrayal of Dr. Manorani Saravanamuththu's character in the movie "Rani" led to many controversies. Read more on our newest page.

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.