Noel Somasundaram

Summary

• Noel Somasundaram is a Consultant Endocrinologist in Sri Lanka.
• Since 2020, he has been involved in several research and publications that promote the tobacco related harm reduction narrative, which is commonly used by the tobacco industry.

Background

Noel Somasundaram was a Consultant Endocrinologist at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka until he retired in 2020. From 2020 onwards, he works as the Consultant Endocrinologist at Diabetes and Hormone Centre in two private sector hospitals (Asiri Central Hospital, Colombo 10 and Nawaloka Hospital PLC, Colombo 2).

He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna in 1994 and obtained his Medical Doctorate from the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo. He was the first board certified consultant Endocrinologist in Sri Lanka.

Noel Somasundaram reportedly has “more than 130 publications” related to diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism.

Image 1: Noel Somasundaram. Source:Sri Lanka College of Endocrinologists

Government Positions Held

• Founder and Lead Endocrinologist, Diabetes and Endocrine Unit of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (2004 to 2020).
• Chairperson, Specialty Board in Endocrinology, Post Graduate Institute of Medicine (June 2015 to Jan 2019).

Positions Held at Academic Colleges and Professional Bodies

• He held the following posts in the Sri Lanka College of Endocrinologists:
  • Council Member (2015 to 2023).
  • President (2011 to 2012).
  • Chairman, guideline committees in diabetes, obesity, thyroid, sodium disorders, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and Cushing syndrome. - Time period not available in public domain.
  • Project Lead, National Project of Sri Lanka Diabetes and Cardiovascular Initiative. - Time period not available in public domain.
• President, South Asian Federation of Endocrine Societies (2019 to 2021).
• President, Endocrine Society of Sri Lanka (2013 to 2014).

Tobacco Related Activities

Somasundaram was involved in tobacco industry related activities as described in sections below.

Involvement in Tobacco Industry Funded Research Promoting Nicotine Products

Member of the Diasmoke Working Group

In 2023, he was identified as a member of the Diasmoke Working Group (image 2), reportedly a study to determine how cigarette smokers with Type 2 diabetes switching to nicotine delivery systems affect their cardiovascular risk. It is one of the research projects of the International Centre of Excellence for Tobacco Harm Reduction Research (CoEHAR). He was as a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) member as mentioned in the CoEHAR website (Image 3).)

According to their website, Diasmoke is “A Randomized Controlled Multicentre Study evaluating changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Smokers with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus after switching from Tobacco Cigarettes to Combustion-Free Nicotine Delivery Systems”. The website further mentions that the group published a letter in Diabetes Care suggesting a correction to the American Diabetes Association guidelines regarding the use of e-cigarettes among patients with diabetes (Image 2).

Image 2: Noel Somasundaram listed as a member of the Diasmokefree working group

Image 3: Noel Somasundaram listed as a speaker of the Scientific Advisory Board meeting of the CoEHAR

Engagement with the International Centre of Excellence for Tobacco Harm Reduction Research (CoEHAR)

International Centre of Excellence for Tobacco Harm Reduction Research (CoEHAR) is a research group, according to their website, that “investigates new ways of using alternative and less harmful tools to conventional cigarette smoking” (Image 4). It is funded by Eclat SRL, a spin-off of the University of Catania, funded through a grant from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW). FSFW, currently known as Global Action to End Smoking, is widely known to be a front organisation of the Philip Morris International. Read more about Global Action to End Smoking in Tobacco Tactics website

The CoEHAR is led by Riccardo Polosa. According to the Tobacco Tactics website, he is a tobacco harm reduction advocate, described as one of the “most prolific” academic authors in the area of e-cigarettes. He has lobbied governments in favour of less restrictive regulations for nicotine delivery products and has a history of collaborating with tobacco companies. Read more about CoEHAR and Riccardo Polosa in the respective TobaccoTactics pages.

Image 4: CoEHAR website openly claiming to support the “Harm Reduction” narrative.

Attending the Global Forum on Nicotine 2023

Global Forum on Nicotine(GFN), which takes place annually in Poland, is known as an event for those with an interest in newer nicotine and tobacco products, and ‘tobacco harm reduction’ approach promoted by the tobacco industry. Read more about Global Forum on Nicotine in Tobacco Tactics website.

According to the Global Forum on Nicotine website, it is organised by Global Forum on Nicotine Limited, which was known as Knowledge-Action-Change (K-A-C) Communications Limited until November 2024. Knowledge-Action-Change (K-A-C) is a private organisation funded by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW, now known as Global Action to End Smoking), which is in turn funded by Philip Morris International. Read more about Knowledge-Action-Change (K-A-C) in Tobacco Tactics website.

The GFN 2023 was a hybrid event that took place from 21 to 24 June 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. Read more about Global Forum on Nicotine 2023 on Tobacco Tactics website.

Information available in the Diasmoke website highlights following significant engagements of Noel Somasundaram during the Global Forum on Nicotine 2023.

Image 5: Noel Somasundaram’s participation at the second meeting of the Diasmoke SAB in the Global Forum on Nicotine 2023. Source: Diasmoke Website.

• Second meeting of the Diasmoke Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). - It was reportedly an event addressing the issue of cigarette smoking among diabetes patients and setting new international treatment guidelines coordinated by Riccardo Polosa.
• During the aforementioned meeting, a letter was drafted to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) expressing concern and seeking correction of ADA guidelines regarding the use of e-cigarettes among individuals with diabetes. Reportedly, the sentence they sought correction was “…in light of recent Centres for Disease Control and Prevention evidence of deaths related to e-cigarette use, no individuals should be advised to use e-cigarettes, either as a way to stop smoking tobacco or as a recreational drug”.

Image 6: Noel Somasundaram’s participation at Diasmoke Working Group meeting during the Global Forum on Nicotine 2023. Source:Diasmoke website.

Promoting E-cigarettes in his Personal YouTube Channel

On his YouTube Channel titled Dr Noel Knows, he promotes e-cigarettes use as a method to quit smoking.

Image 7: Noel Somasundaram promoting e-cigarettes as alternative for tobacco smoking on his YouTube channel Dr Noel Knows. Source: Dr. Noel Knows YouTube Channel

Contribution to Research and Other Publications Promoting E – cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco

Table 1 presents the publications linked to the tobacco industry contributed to by Noel Somasundaram.

Table 01: Publications Linked with the Tobacco Industry Co-authored by Noel Somasundaram

Study/Report Title	Authors & Publisher	Funding and Links with the Tobacco Industry	Remarks
Tale of Two Nations Vol 9: A Comparative Study of how Sri Lanka and Sweden are Faring in the Fight Against Smoking	Authors: Delon Human, Noel Somasundaram Published by : Smoke free Sweden.	Funder - Health Diplomats. It is a consultancy firm run by Delon Human who is known to be linked with the tobacco industry. Read more about Health Diplomats from the Tobacco Tactics website.	Promotes use of e – cigarettes and nicotine-based alternatives. Read more from the TobaccoUnmasked page Debunking – “Tale of Two Nations Vol 9: A Comparative Study of how Sri Lanka and Sweden are Faring in the Fight Against Smoking”
Lives Saved Report: Saving 85,000 lives in Sri Lanka, The impact of complementing WHO’s MPOWER with harm reduction and improved lung cancer treatment up to 2060	Authors: Derek Yach, Riccardo Polosa, Delon Human, Rohan Sequeira, Noel Somasundaram, Marewa Glover Published by: Tobacco Harm Reduction.net website.	Funder - Health Diplomats. It is a consultancy firm run by Delon Human who is known to be linked with the tobacco industry. Read more about Health Diplomats from the Tobacco Tactics website.	The report promotes nicotine delivery systems. There’s evidence linking all co-authors to research or activities funded by the tobacco industry or its front groups. .
Differential associations between smoking, e-cigarette use, and diabetes prevalence	Authors: Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi, Chimwemwe Ngoma, Davide Campagna, Antonio Ceriello, Najim Z Alshahrani, Anoop Misra, Abdul Basit, Cristina Russo, Tadej Battelino, Somasundaram N, Muhammad Yazid Jalaludin, Phuong Le Dinh, Yoshifumi Saisho, Magdalena Walicka, Venera Tomaselli, Giulio Cantone, Othmar Moser, Riccardo Polosa Published by: Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Review Journal, Volume 19, Issue 10, October 2025	The authors report that no specific funding was received from public, commercial, or not-for-profit funding agencies.	Claims e-cigarette use is not associated with diabetes and alleges past history of smoking as the reason for the observed association.. There’s evidence linking all co-authors to research or activities funded by the tobacco industry or its front groups except for Najim Z Alshahrani.
Influence of quitting smoking on diabetes-related complications: A scoping review with a systematic search strategy	Authors: Walicka M, Arkadiusz Krysiński, Giusy Rita Maria La Rosa, Ang Sun, Davide Campagna, Agostino Di Ciaula, Tabinda Dugal, Andre Kengne, Phuong Le Dinh, Anoop Misra, Riccardo Polosa, Syed Abbas Raza, Cristina Russo, Roberta Sammut, Somasundaram N, DiaSmokeFree Working Group. Published by: Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Review Journal, Volume 18, Issue 5, May 2024	Funder - Ministero dell Universita’ e della Ricerca (Ministry of University and Research) (MUR), Italy and NextGenerationEU of the European Union.	Suggests to “switch to substantially less harmful nicotine alternatives, like oral nicotine pouches or electronic nicotine delivery systems (e.g., e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products)”. There’s evidence linking all co-authors to research or activities funded by the tobacco industry or its front groups . DiasmokeFree Working Group, a corporate author of the study is founded by Eclar SRL which is funded by Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW, now Global Action to End Smoking) which is in turn funded by Philip Morris International
Behavioural Therapy for People With Diabetes Who Smoke: A Scoping Review	Authors: Roberta Sammut, Joseph Grech, Riccardo Polosa, Davide Campagna, Agostino Di Ciaula, Tabinda Dugal, Andre Kenge, Anoop Misra, Syed Abbas Raza, Cristina Russo, Noel Somasundaram, Magdalena Walicka, Le Dinh Phoung, Graziella Chiara Prezzavento, Mirko Casu, Giusy Rita Maria La Rosa, Pasquale Caponnetto. Published by: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, First published online April 23, 2024.	Stated as no funds received.	Suggests to use nicotine products to assist behavioural therapy to smoking cessation. There’s evidence linking all co-authors to research or activities funded by the tobacco industry or its front groups except for Joseph Grech.
A multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of combustion-free nicotine alternatives on cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic parameters in individuals with type 2 diabetes who smoke: the DiaSmokeFree study protocol	Authors: Arkadiusz Krysiński, Cristina Russo, Davide Campagna, Antonino Di Pino, Sarah John, Jonathan Belsey, Pasquale Caponnetto, Lorina Vudu, Chong Wei Lim, Agostino Di Ciaula, Nicola Veronese, Mario Barbagallo, Farrukh Iqbal, David Fluck, Edward Franek, Riccardo Polosa, Pankaj Sharma, DiaSmokeFree investigators (Noel Somasundaram’s a member of the DiaSmokeFree working group). Published by: Internal and Emergency Medicine: Official Journal of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine, Volume 19, pages 321–332, 24 November 2023	Funder- ECLAT Srl, through a grant from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW, now Global Action to End Smoking) which is in turn funded by Philip Morris International, Ministero dell Universita’ e della Ricerca (MUR), Italy and NextGenerationEU of the European Union.	Promotes “combustion-free nicotine alternatives (C – F NA)” such as e – cigarettes, heated tobacco products and smokeless tobacco. There’s evidence linking all co-authors to previous research or activities funded by the tobacco industry or its front groups except for Arkadiusz Krysiński, Sarah John, Nicola Veronese, Farrukh Iqbal and David Fluck.
Comment on “Elsayed et al. 5. Facilitating Positive Health Behaviors and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes”: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2023. Diabetes Care 2023;46(Suppl. 1):S68–S96	Authors: Davide Campagna, Agostino Di Ciuala, Tabinda Dugal, Andre Kengne, Anoop Misra, Riccardo Polosa, Syed Abbas Raza, Cristina Russo, Roberta Sammut, Noel Somasundaram, Magda Walicka Published by: American Diabetes Association	Funder- Foundation for Smoke Free World (FSFW, now, Globle Action to End Smoking) which is In turn Funded by Philip Morris International.	Opposed the statement “no individuals should be advised to use e-cigarettes, either as a way to stop smoking tobacco or as a recreational drug”. There’s evidence linking all co-authors to research or activities funded by the tobacco industry or its front groups.
Pharmacological interventions for smoking cessation in Type 2 diabetes: A systematic review with meta-analysis and GRADE evaluation	Authors: Alison Martin, Giusy Rita Maria La Rosa, Hannah Rice, Andrea Bertuzzi, Michal Witkowski, Erika Anastasi, Giulio Geraci, Riccardo Polosa, DiaSmokeFree Working Group (Noel Somasundaram’s a member of the DiaSmokeFree working group). Published by: Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice: Official Journal of The International Diabetes Federation, Volume 224, 112202, June 2025.	Funder- ECLAT Srl.	Recommends Nicotine replacement therapy with inconclusive evidence. There’s evidence linking Giusy Rita Maria La Rosa, Riccardo Polosa and DiaSmokeFree Working Group to research or activities funded by the tobacco industry or its front groups.

Implications

According to the Regulations on Prohibited Tobacco Products in Sri Lanka under National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act No 27 of 2006, Electronic cigarettes containing tobacco, smokeless tobacco products (including snus), and flavoured, coloured, sweetened tobacco products are defined as Prohibited Tobacco Products in Sri Lanka and no person shall manufacture, import, sell or offer for sale any prohibited tobacco product.

In addition, e–cigarettes are not among National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s list of registered medical devices or borderline devices approved under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority Act No. 05 of 2015. Thus, those devices cannot be used for therapeutic purposes in Sri Lanka.

TobaccoUnmasked Resources

• Debunking – “Tale of Two Nations Vol 9: A Comparative Study of how Sri Lanka and Sweden are Faring in the Fight Against Smoking”
• National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act
• Regulations on Prohibited Tobacco Products in Sri Lanka
• The Case Study on Flavoured Cigarettes in Sri Lanka

The local language translations

External Resources

• Harm Reduction
• Foundation for a Smoke-Free World
• Knowledge-Action-Change
• Global Action to End Smoking
• Philip Morris International
• Global Forum on Nicotine
• Delon Human
• Health Diplomats
• International Center of Excellence for Tobacco Harm Reduction Research (CoEHAR)
• Riccardo Polosa