The government estimates that tobacco kills over 25,000 people in Sri Lanka each year. Thanks to preventive measures, smoking has decreased. But more needs to be done, the Sri Lankan government believes, and hopes that advertising-free packaging, together with other measures, can reduce smoking by up to 15 percent in four years, which would save 6,000 lives.

The government believes that experience in countries that have already introduced such packaging shows that it is an effective way to reduce smoking. Standardized, advertising-free tobacco packaging is available in Australia, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Norway and New Zealand.