Quit Like Sweden Programme in Sri Lanka

Summary

• Quit Like Sweden (QLS) is a campaign promoting Snus and other nicotine products.
• QLS campaign was first launched in Brazil in 2024.
• A programme publicised as “South Asia’s First Quit Like Sweden Anti-Tobacco Round Table” was held in Sri Lanka in November 2025.

Background

Quit Like Sweden (QLS) is an initiative that originated in Brazil in 2024. Since then, such programmes are reported to be held in UK, South Africa, Spain, Poland, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, and Sri Lanka.

According to QLS website they are a platform committed to encourage countries to adopt “The Swedish Experience” in quitting smoking. They define “The Swedish Experience” as combining smoking cessation and prevention measures with programmes and policies that promote alternative tobacco products, a narrative long been used by the tobacco industry. Please read the TobaccoTactics page on Quit Like Sweden for more details.

As of January 2026, the “Who We Are” section of the QLS website lists following four individuals as their team members:

• Suely Castro (the founder and current director of QLS)
• Marewa Glover
• Fredrik Nystrom
• Anders Milton

Quit Like Sweden website doesn’t give information about its funders. The website was managed by Castro Consulting Limited until 28 Jul 2025, a UK-based limited company which started in March 2024, whose sole director is Suely Castro. Castro Consulting Limited changed its name into QLS Policy and planning limited on 28 Jul 2025. As of January 2026, it states that it is managed by “Quit Like Sweden”, which has the same location address as QLS Policy & Planning Limited.

Link to the Tobacco Industry

Despite Quit Like Sweden claiming independence, indirect links show a strong connection to Philip Morris International, which is a major multinational tobacco company advocating for alternative tobacco and nicotine products worldwide.

According to Suely Castro’s LinkedIn profile, she was an employee of Knowledge-Action-Change Limited (K-A-C) from October 2018 to June 2024, just before her role in QLS. 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. According to the Tobacco Tactics website, these links raise significant concerns about the true nature and objectives of Quit Like Sweden. Read more in the Tobacco Tactics website.

QLS Event in Sri Lanka

On 11th November 2025, QLS organised a media briefing for Sri Lankan journalists at Hotel Cinnamon Grand, Colombo, promoting it under the heading of “South Asia’s First “Quit Like Sweden” Anti-Tobacco Round Table”. Six speakers including three key individuals representing QLS spoke at the event. The details of the speakers are presented in the table 01.

Image 1: Quit Like Sweden event in Sri Lanka held in Colombo on 11th November 2025 with the participation of (from left to right) Suely Castro, Dr. Rohan Savio Sequeira, Prof. Marewa Glover, Dr. Sree T. Sucharitha and Dr. Fredrik Nystrom as key speakers. Source: Can Sri Lanka Quit Like Sweden?

During the event, speakers from QLS advocated for making cigarette alternatives (such as electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco products and flavoured, coloured, sweetened tobacco products) more accessible, acceptable, and affordable in Sri Lanka, claiming that it was the strategy used in Sweden to reduce smoking prevalence. All these products are classified as prohibited tobacco products in Sri Lanka according to the Regulations on Prohibited Tobacco Products in Sri Lanka. These narratives from the speakers of the above QLS event clearly align with the tobacco industry’s strategy to normalise and promote emerging nicotine and tobacco products under the guise of “Harm Reduction”, to sustain nicotine addiction and, ultimately, their tobacco business.

Table 1 - Details of the speakers of the event

Key Speaker	Description
Suely Castro	The founding and current director of QLS. She was the global stakeholder engagement and event director at Knowledge-Action-Change Limited (K-A-C) from October 2018 to June 2024. Knowledge-Action-Change is a private organisation founded by Gerry Stimson. It is funded by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW, now Global Action to End Smoking), which is in turn funded by Philip Morris International.
Fredrik Nystrom	A Swedish researcher focused on tobacco harm reduction approach and nicotine use. Authored an article named ‘The taste of nicotine’ glamorising nicotine and its effects on physical and mental health. Affiliated to the research institute “Ephi” which was founded by former European parliament member Christofer Fjellner who openly advocated for snus use despite the wide ban on snus use in other European countries (with the exception of Sweden). Read more about Christofer Fjellner from the Tobacco Tactics page. Details of the Ephi’s funding sources are not available in the Public domains.
Marewa Glover	Founder of the Centre for Research Excellence: Indigenous Sovereignty and Smoking (COREISS), which was funded up to September 2024 by grants from FSFW/Global Action to End Smoking. Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW, now Global Action to End Smoking) is in turn funded by Philip Morris International.
Nancy Loucas	The Executive coordinator of Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) since 2017 and the Director ( 2015-2021) at Aotearoa vapers community advocacy (AVCA), a consumer advocacy group in New Zealand. Was a key speaker at the industry led Global Forum on Nicotine for several years. Read more about Global Forum on Nicotine in the Tobacco Tactics website. Details of the CAPHRA’s funding sources are not available in the Public domains.
Sree T. Sucharitha	An Indian researcher who promotes tobacco harm reduction approach. Her early research publications are more focused on smoking cessation rather harm reduction which later changed to advocacy for harm reduction approach in 2022. The CEO of “Kairos Kinetic” a Chennai based organisation founded in 2021 which provides Tobacco Harm Reduction clinics among several other services related to oral health. An Expert Advocacy Group member at Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA). Details of the Kairos Kinetic’s funding sources are not available in the Public domains
Rohan Savio Sequeira	A Cardio-endocrine physician. The founder and the director of Society of Medically Harm Reduced Alternatives (SOMHRA) and managing director at Queira Technologies LLP. Has participated in Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum 2024 as a key speaker. The Global Tobacco Nicotine Forum (GTNF) is a tobacco-industry funded event organising annually which typically takes place in September each year. An Expert Advocacy Group member at Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA). Details of the SOMHRA’s funding sources are not available in the Public domains.

Intervention by ADIC Sri Lanka at the event

Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) Sri Lanka is the pioneering civil society organization active in tobacco control in Sri Lanka. The following account is based on a personal communication from Mr. Sampath De Seram, Executive Director of ADIC Sri Lanka.

A team from ADIC attended the event and questioned about the QLS’s ties to PMI openly, to which the organisers responded that they had “no direct ties”. The organisers further added that “anyone can fund” their initiative. ADIC team objected to this declaration highlighting the fact that any involvement of the tobacco industry is not in the interest of people but their profits and will lead to sustaining nicotine addiction and more deaths and diseases. Further, ADIC team strongly opposed misleading messages presented at the event and highlighted that such initiatives undermine Sri Lanka’s hard-earned progress in tobacco control. They emphasized that Sri Lanka’s tobacco control success has been achieved through effective community-based interventions and evidence-based public health policies and, not through promotion of alternative nicotine products disguised as harm reduction.

Following this discussion, ADIC informed all key national authorities and international stakeholders regarding this interference and released a media statement informing the public and the media about the issue.

Media Coverage

The QLS event in Sri Lanka was reported in three national print media reports, two print business magazines and on a few online media platforms. The media channels and the headlines that were used to report the event are mentioned in Table 2:

Table 2 - Details of the media reports of the event

Media channel	Headline
The Island	Sri Lanka’s tobacco trap: The $500 million fiscal sinkhole.
Daily FT	Quit Like Sweden: Hope for smoke-free future.
Daily Mirror	SL’s healthcare system can save roughly Rs. 3.32 trillion with tobacco reduction strategies.
LMD The Voice of Business	South Asia’s First “Quit Like Sweden” Anti-Tobacco Roundtable Held In Colombo.
Profit Magazine	South Asia’s first “Quit Like Sweden” anti-tobacco roundtable held in Colombo.
Lanka Business News	South Asia’s first “Quit Like Sweden” anti-tobacco roundtable held in Colombo.
lanka business online	Strategic report to CTC – South Asia’s first “quit like Sweden” anti-tobacco roundtable.
LankaTalks	South Asia’s first "Quit Like Sweden" anti-tobacco roundtable held in Colombo.
MAGZTER	Quit Like Sweden: Hope for smoke-free future.
MAGZTER	SL’s healthcare system can save roughly Rs. 3.32 trillion with tobacco reduction strategies.

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 (Vapes), smokeless tobacco products (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.

This event by QLS promoting alternative tobacco products is not only an effort violating the mentioned Regulations on Prohibited Tobacco Products in Sri Lanka but also it violates the section 35 of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act, No. 27 of 2006, which prohibits promotion of tobacco products.

TobaccoUnmasked Resources

• 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

• Quit Like Sweden
• Harm Reduction
• The Swedish Experience
• Foundation for a Smoke-Free World
• Knowledge-Action-Change
• Global Action to End Smoking
• Philip Morris International
• Christofer Fjellner
• Snus: EU Ban on Snus Sales
• Global Forum on Nicotine
• Centre for Research Excellence: Indigenous Sovereignty and Smoking (COREISS)
• Snus Commission
• Health Diplomats