Nearly 40,000 die yearly due to tobacco, alcohol

About 40,000 people die every year in Sri Lanka due to the use of cigarettes and alcohol, Sri Lanka Amadyapa Maha Sabha stated.

The majority of them are men, which suggests that 35,000 women have lost their husbands, and about 700,000 children have lost their fathers, said Ruben Wickramarachchi, the national organizer of the Maha Sabha.

The national organizer also said that in order to fill the gap in the market due to the loss of about forty thousand persons per year, alcohol and tobacco companies will introduce about

50,000 new people to the use of cigarettes and alcohol, and the majority of them are young people.

Wickramaarachchi also said that they are striving for a national policy on abstaining from using cigarettes and substances.