The Director General of Health Services Dr. Palitha Mahipala says around 20,000 people die due to smoking in Sri Lanka annually. Accordingly, 57 persons die every day due to this bad practice. Dr. Mahipala made thee remarks at a media conference held in Colombo yesterday. Speaking further at this conference he highlighted that around million people die in the world annually due to smoking practices. 

Dr. Palitha Mahipala also emphasized about the wide array of activities taken by the Sri Lankan government to control the tobacco use.