The World Health Organization is pushing countries to raise the prices of sugary beverages, alcohol and tobacco by 50% over the next 10 years through taxation, its strongest support yet for taxes to help tackle chronic public health problems.
The United Nations Health Agency said the move would help cut consumption of products that contribute to diseases such as diabetes and some cancers, as well as raising money at a time when the development support has shrunk and public debt is rising.
“Health Taxes are one of the most effective tools we have,” said Jeremy Farrar, as Assistant Director General of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control. “It’s time to act.”
WHO launched Push, as it is called “3 of 35” at the UN Finance for Development Conference in Sevilla.
Who said its tax initiative could raise $ 1 trillion by 2035 based on evidence from health taxes in countries such as Colombia and South Africa.
WHO has supported tobacco fees and price increases for decades and has called for tax on alcohol and sugary drinks in recent years, but this is the first time it has proposed a target price increase for all three products.
WHO HERFORE Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the conference that the tax could help governments “adapt to the new reality” and strengthen their own health systems with the money raised.
Many low and middle-income countries are doing well with cuts to help the expenses of the United States that do not attend the Sevilla conference. The United States is also in the process of retiring from WHO.
From $ 4 to $ 10
As an example, the initiative would mean that a government in a middle -income country raises tax on the product to push the price up from $ 4 today to $ 10 in 2035, taking into account inflation, said who health economist Guillermo Sandoval.
Nearly 140 countries had already raised tobacco taxes and therefore prices by more than 50% on average between 2012 and 2022, the WHO added.
Sandoval said WHO also considered wider tax recommendations, including on ultra-processed food after the agency has completed its definition of that type of food in the coming months. But he added that the agency expected pushback from the industries involved.
The initiative is also supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and involves support for countries that want to intervene.
