ALCOHOL AND SUGARY DRINKS SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO HIGHER TAXES, SAYS WHO

Wed 06 December 2023:

On Tuesday (Dec 5), the World Health Organization (WHO) called on countries to raise prices on alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), noting that the majority of countries do not incentivize healthy behaviors.

The recommendations were based on a research of taxation rates conducted by the United Nations health agency, which discovered that the average global tax rate on such “unhealthy products” was low, and raising taxes may result in healthier populations and fewer deaths.

“WHO recommends that excise tax should apply to all sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and alcoholic beverages,” said the UN agency in a statement. Excise taxes target specific consumer products.

Around 2.6 million people across the world die from drinking alcohol, while more than eight million die from having an unhealthy diet, according to WHO, adding that implementing a tax on them “will reduce these deaths.”

The UN agency also said that raising the tax will not only help reduce the consumption of these beverages but also incentivise companies to make healthier products.

“Taxing unhealthy products creates healthier populations. It has a positive ripple effect across society, less disease and debilitation and revenue for governments to provide public services,” said Rüdiger Krech, the UN agency’s health promotion director, in the statement.

“In the case of alcohol, taxes also help prevent violence and road traffic injuries,” he added.

The tax on these products would also help prevent non-communicable diseases such as cancers, diabetes and heart diseases, said the UN health agency.

The report also noted that half of all countries taxing SSBs are also taxing water – not something that the WHO recommends. Around 108 countries of its 194 members impose some taxation on SSBs. Globally, excise taxes on average represent just 6.6 per cent of the price of a soda.

Additionally, at least 148 countries have applied excise taxes to alcohol at the national level. However, wine is exempted from excise taxes in at least 22 countries, most of which are in Europe, said WHO.

The tax, according to the UN agency, on the price of the most sold brand of beer is 17.2 per cent. Meanwhile, the tax on “the most sold brand of the most sold type of spirit” is 26 per cent.

“A significant body of research has demonstrated that people who engage in heavy episodic drinking tend to drink the cheapest available alcoholic beverages,” said the WHO.

The report citing a 2017 study said taxes that increase alcohol prices by 50 per cent would help avert over 21 million deaths over half a decade and generate nearly $17 trillion in additional revenues.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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