Revision as of 15:15, 30 May 2021

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?

31st May 2021 - Today, to commemorate the World No Tobacco Day, we present to you a series of posts (4 posts) related to an alleged violation of both Article 5.3 and Article 6 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Effective tobacco tax is the most powerful strategy to reduce demand for tobacco and facilitate commitment to quit. Thus, Bank of Ceylon and the Cigarette Stockpiling Issue will be act as an example for many tobacco industry tactics to defy commitments to quit. Please visit our newest page series for more details.
09th May 2021 - This reports marks the one year anniversary of our monitoring of the Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic. Visit the Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic - March 2021 page for the details. We will continue to summarise tobacco industry interference during COVID-19 pandemic as monthly reports until the pandemic resolves.
08th April 2021 - Our monitoring of the Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic continues for the 50th week with the Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic - February 2021 page. The February report captures several interesting reports including tobacco multinationals being more open about their change of focus to other nicotine products and cannabis. We will continue to summarise tobacco industry interference during COVID-19 pandemic as monthly reports until the pandemic resolves.
06th March 2021 - Our newest page Tobacco Industry Tactics to Evade Tax summarises globally and locally reported industry interference related to tobacco tax. This page is published to set the stage for the series of pages we plan to publish on the cigarette stockpiling issue recently reported from Sri Lanka. Await the page series on the incident from next week!
27th February 2021 - Our monitoring of the Globally Reported Tobacco Industry Interference during COVID-19 Pandemic continues for the year 2021 with the January 2021 Report capturing findings from 42nd to 46th week of monitoring. We will continue to summarise tobacco industry interference related to COVID-19 pandemic and its control as monthly reports until the pandemic resolves.
20th February 2021 - We published two profiles today, from our investigations related to the Sri Lankan general elections 2020. Visit our pages Geetha Kumarasingha and Jagath Manuwarna for more details.
7th February 2021 - Triad Private Limited is an advertising agency in Sri Lanka which was accused of sponsored newspaper articles against the government increasing the tobacco tax in 2017. It came to limelight again due to its sister Tv channel producing a Tv mini series which was accused of promoting tobacco and violating the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act

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.