Pahana Project
supports recovery
from alcohol dependence
in Sri Lanka
Pahana means oil lamp in Sinhala. A single lamp does not light a whole village. It lights the space around one person, enough for them to see the next step.
We are not a treatment service. We work with the people in between — drinking enough to damage work, money and family, but not enough to need a hospital. That group is large, it is where change is still relatively easy, and almost nothing exists for it.
We work in Weligama, Mirissa and Ahangama, in Sri Lanka's Southern Province.
Our first programmes begin in October 2026.
: one person at a time
Six-month individual programme
(01)
A doctor's assessment, then weekly sessions, a daily diary and a morning routine. Reassessed at six months, not left open-ended.
Open group, every week
(02)
Running and stretching on the beach, volleyball, a beach clean, and ninety minutes together. No referral and no waiting list.
Learning as we go
We record what works and what does not, and publish it openly.
(03)
The number that hides the problem
Alcohol use in Sri Lanka is falling. A 2024 national survey by the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre found that fewer than 30% of men are current drinkers, continuing a decline that has run for a decade. Hard liquor volumes dropped from 26 million litres in 2022 to 19.31 million in 2024.
By that measure, this is a country getting better at its alcohol problem. Sri Lanka's per capita consumption — 2.7 litres of pure alcohol in 2022 — already sits below the regional average of 3.6 and the global average of 5.
So why start a project at all?
Because a falling average conceals three things happening underneath it.
One — the drinking is concentrating
While the number of drinkers falls, production is rising again. In 2025, beer production increased by 5% and other liquor production by 17%. Alcohol prices have not been adjusted since early 2024, while inflation and incomes have risen — making alcohol steadily more affordable in real terms.
Fewer drinkers, more alcohol produced. That combination suggests consumption is concentrating among a smaller group of heavier drinkers. This is an inference from two separate datasets rather than a measured figure, and we state it as such — but it is the pattern that matters for anyone working with individuals rather than populations. National decline and individual crisis are not contradictory. They can be the same statistic read at different scales.
Two — young people are moving the other way
In the 2024 ADIC survey, 18.0% of current drinkers were between 15 and 21. ADIC's own reporting notes an increasing trend in alcohol initiation among this age group, even as overall consumption falls, and recommends a national prevention programme aimed specifically at children and youth.
An overall decline driven by older cohorts drinking less can coexist with younger cohorts starting earlier. Averages cannot show this. Individual case work can.
Three — tax moved the drinking rather than reducing it
In early 2024 the government raised excise duty by 14%. Legal alcohol consumption fell by roughly 9.5% over the first ten months of that year, with hard liquor sales dropping sharply. But a substantial share of consumers shifted to cheaper unregulated brews rather than stopping.
This is the most consequential finding for policy. A measure that reduces recorded consumption while pushing drinkers toward kasippu — illicitly distilled, unregulated, and more dangerous — has improved the statistics and worsened the risk. Any honest reading of alcohol policy here has to sit with that.
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Who this is for
There is a line in alcohol services, and almost everything sits on one side of it.
The World Health Organization's AUDIT screening tool scores drinking from 0 to 40. Above 20, a person is likely to be dependent and needs medical assessment — that is where hospitals, detoxification and specialist treatment begin. Below 8, drinking is low-risk.
Between those two numbers sits a large group whose drinking is doing real damage — to work, to money, to sleep, to family — but who are not ill, do not need a doctor, and would not be admitted anywhere if they asked. They are told either that they are fine or that they are an alcoholic, and neither is true.
That middle range is the only group we work with. We screen everyone before they join. If someone scores above the threshold, we do not enrol them — we help them reach medical services instead, and we say why.
This is a deliberate limit. Working with people below the clinical line is the part of the problem a small volunteer project can do competently and safely. Working above it is not. It is also where the evidence is strongest: structured support from a trained non-specialist has better evidence behind it for hazardous drinking than for dependence, where it performs poorly on its own.
What we mean by success
Not abstinence, unless a participant chooses that for themselves.
We measure whether someone has got their life back: whether they are working the hours they want to work, whether the money is reaching the household, whether they are sleeping, whether things at home are calmer. Drinking is what we talk about. Those four are what we are trying to change.
Who we are
Pahana Project was founded in 2026 by Jeongjun Lee, a Year 11 student at a British international school in New Delhi. He is responsible for research, planning, funding and communications, and takes part in sessions alongside our facilitator.
We want to be exact about what that means. This project was designed by a secondary school student. It is not a medical service, nobody involved is a clinician, and we do not offer anything that requires one. Every participant sees a doctor before starting, and anyone who needs more than we can give is referred rather than kept. We would rather state the limit plainly at the top of the page than have someone discover it later.
Our programmes are run by a local coordinator based on the southern coast, who arranges venues, works with participants, and maintains day-to-day contact. At her request and to protect the privacy of participants in small towns where people know each other, we do not publish her name.
We are not a registered charity and do not describe ourselves as one. We are a small volunteer initiative, and we would rather be accurate about our size than impressive about it.
Source
Sources: ADIC Annual Trend Survey on Alcohol Consumption (2023, 2024); WHO Global Alcohol Country Snapshot — Sri Lanka (2026); Sri Lanka Excise Department figures as reported in national media (2024–2025); Sri Lanka Health and Ageing Study (2018/19).
