Sri Lanka WHO FCTC Needs Assessment

Sri Lanka ratified the WHO FCTC on 11 November 2003, being the first country in Asia and the fourth in the world to do so. The Convention entered into force for Sri Lanka on 27 February 2005. An assessment of the needs for implementation of the WHO FCTC in Sri Lanka was conducted jointly by the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Convention Secretariat from September to October 2013, following an initial analysis of the status of implementation, and the challenges and potential needs deriving from the country’s most recent implementation report and other sources of information. An international team led by the Convention Secretariat, which included representatives of the WHO Regional Office for South East Asia, the WHO Country Office in Sri Lanka and the United Nations Development Programme Asia-Pacific Regional Center, conducted the mission in Sri Lanka together with representatives of the Government from 14 to 18 October 2013.