Cheyenne Suarez

WHO says sugary drinks, alcohol getting cheaper, should be taxed more

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1768343940656roadside.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Sugar-sweetened drinks are sold at a roadside stall in Manila. A new US study found that &#x27;sin taxes&#x27; on sodas could help reduce consumption. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Sugar-sweetened drinks are sold at a roadside stall in Manila. A new US study found that &#x27;sin taxes&#x27; on sodas could help reduce consumption. <em>Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File </em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>GENEVA, Switzerland - Sugary drinks and alcohol are getting relatively cheaper, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, urging countries to hike taxes to reduce consumption levels and boost health funding.</p><p>The WHO said consistently low taxes on the products in most countries were fuelling obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancers.</p><p>&quot;Weak tax systems are allowing harmful products to remain cheap while health systems face mounting financial pressure from preventable non-communicable diseases,&quot; the UN health agency said.</p><p>The organisation said that while such drinks generate billions of dollars in profit, governments capture a relatively small share of that through health-driven taxes, leaving societies to bear the long-term health and economic costs.</p><p>&quot;Health taxes are one of the strongest tools we have for promoting health and preventing disease,&quot; WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.</p><p>&quot;By increasing taxes on products like tobacco, sugary drinks, and alcohol, governments can reduce harmful consumption and unlock funds for vital health services.&quot;</p><p>Tedros told a press conference that in poorer countries left struggling as aid funding dries up, such taxes could help make the transition towards sustainable self-reliance in running health systems.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Powerful industries with deep pockets&#x27; -</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Jeremy Farrar, WHO assistant director-general in charge of health promotion, disease prevention and care, said the evidence on tobacco taxation reducing consumption was clear -- and sugary drinks should be seen in the same light.</p><p>&quot;This is also about using taxation as a move to shift behaviour,&quot; he said, adding it could also bolster prevention in countries struggling to deal with the rise in non-communicable diseases, and allow countries to invest in healthcare.</p><p>Tedros warned that health taxes were not simple to implement.</p><p>&quot;They can be politically unpopular, and they attract opposition from powerful industries with deep pockets and a lot to lose,&quot; he told reporters.</p><p>&quot;But many countries have shown that when they are done right, they are a powerful tool for health,&quot; he said, citing measures in the Philippines, Britain and Lithuania.</p><p>The WHO is urging states to raise and redesign their taxes as part of its &quot;3 by 35&quot; initiative, aimed at increasing the prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks by 2035.</p><div><br/></div><p>-<strong> Slipping through the net -</strong></p><div><br/></div><p>The WHO issued twin global reports on taxes on alcohol and on sugar-sweetened beverages.</p><p>They said at least 116 countries tax sugary drinks like sodas.</p><p>&quot;But many other high-sugar products, such as 100 percent fruit juices, sweetened milk drinks and ready-to-drink coffees and teas, escape taxation,&quot; said the WHO.</p><p>The alcohol report found beer had become more affordable in 56 countries from 2022 to 2024, and less affordable in 37.</p><p>It said wine was exempted from excise taxes in at least 25 countries, particularly in Europe.</p><p>&quot;Excise taxes should apply to all alcoholic beverages,&quot; it said.</p><p>&quot;There is significant room for better design and higher excise taxes on alcoholic beverages to decrease affordability and thereby reduce alcohol consumption and its related harms.&quot;</p><p>More affordable alcohol &quot;drives violence, injuries and disease&quot;, said Etienne Krug, head of the WHO&#x27;s health determinants, promotion and prevention department.</p><p>&quot;While industry profits, the public often carries the health consequences and society the economic costs.&quot;</p><p>rjm/nl/fg</p>

<p>Sugary drinks and alcohol are getting relatively cheaper, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, urging countries to hike taxes to reduce consumption levels and boost health funding.</p>

Sugary drinks and alcohol are getting relatively cheaper, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, urging countries to hike taxes to reduce consumption levels and boost health funding.