Graphic warnings challenged in court

The Sri Lankan Health Ministry says the government suffers an annual loss of Rs4 billion due to non-communicable diseases caused by smoking and that the ministry is committed to reducing the habit, according to a story in the Daily Mirror.

The tobacco industry filed action against Health Minister, Maithripala Sirisena, in the Court of Appeal on November 2 requesting an order preventing the implementation of pictorial warnings on cigarette packs, as ordered by the minister in a gazette notification issued in August.

Ministry spokesman, W.A.D Wanninayake, said the ministry had issued a gazette notice to introduce warnings with images of illnesses caused by smoking, along with warning texts in three languages, to prevent the increasing rate of non-communicable diseases.

“About 75 per cent of deaths that occur each day in the country are due to non-communicable diseases caused by the use of cigarettes,” he said. “Our objective in issuing the gazette notice is to ensure a healthy society.”