Lankans’ life expectancy up by 10 years

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

COLOMBO: The life expectancy of Sri Lankans has gone up by 10 years, according to a latest report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to the report, the life expectancy of a male has gone up to 69 years and a woman to 79 years. In 2004, it was 60 and 69, a Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry spokesman said.

He said according to the report by 2007 end, the percentage of people who smoked had gone down by 7.1 per cent in Sri Lanka while the percentage of males who smoked in 2005 was 30.2 per cent. It was 2.6 per cent for females. The percentage of both males and females who smoked in 2005 was 16.5.

But after the Government implemented the Alcohol and Tobacco Control Act in 2007 the percentages had gone down rapidly. The percentage of males and females who smoke had gone down to 9.1 per cent. This was a 7.1 per cent decrease.

In 2007, the percentage of males who smoked was only 12.4 and 1.8 for females. The high quality health service available to the public free of charge is one of the main reasons for the advancement of Sri Lankan people’s life expectancy, he added.