A webinar on “Lifetime ban on tobacco for younger generations: Maldives did it! Will Sri Lanka too?” was successfully held on 25th May 2026 with the participation of Experts from Maldives and Sri Lanka. It was organised by the Centre for Combating Tobacco (CCT) together with Young Professionals’ Alliance for Health (YouPAH), commemorating World No Tobacco Day 2026. The webinar focused on how the Maldives achieved the ban and steps Sri Lanka should take to implement the generational ban on tobacco.

Last year, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Health to ban the purchase of tobacco products for children born after 2010, as a measure to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco. A similar ban is already in place in the Maldives for children born after 2007.

The discussion was based on the questions the organisers received via a social media campaign before the webinar. The experts of the discussion were Mr. Mohamed Hassan, the Head of the Tobacco Prevention Program, Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare, Maldives, Ms. Fathmath Najudha, Public Health Coordinator, Health Protection Agency, Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare, Maldives who were the pioneers in formulating these policies in the Maldives, and Dr. Sajeewa Ranaweera, a member of the Expert Committee on Tobacco, Alcohol and Dangerous Drugs of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, who took the leadership in drafting these policies in Sri Lanka. Dr. Akhil Nilaweera, Sub-editor of CCT and former President of YouPAH, moderated the discussion.