According to a news release issued by the World Health Organisation on Tuesday, December 5, 2.6 million people die each year from alcohol consumption and over eight million from an unhealthy diet.
The WHO advocated for higher tariffs on alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to prevent alcohol-related fatalities and bad behaviours.
According to new WHO data released on Tuesday, global tariffs on harmful products such as alcohol and SSBs are low.
According to the findings, the majority of countries are not utilising taxes to incentivize healthier behaviours.
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“Half of all countries taxing SSBs are also taxing water, which is not recommended by WHO. Although 108 countries are taxing some sort of sugar-sweetened beverage, globally, on the average excise tax, a tax designated for a specified consumer product, represents just 6.6 per cent of the price of soda.
“At least 148 countries have applied excise taxes to alcoholic beverages at the national level. However, wine is exempted from excise taxes in at least 22 countries, most of which are in the European region.
“Globally, on average, the excise tax share in the price of the most sold brand of beer is 17.2 per cent. For the most sold brand of the most sold spirits type, it is 26.5 per cent,” WHO said.
According to a 2017 study, raising alcohol prices by 50% would save over 21 million lives over the next 50 years and produce approximately $17 trillion in additional money.
This is the equal of the annual government revenue of eight of the world’s top economies.
“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. In the case of alcohol, taxes also help prevent violence and road traffic injuries,” said WHO Director for Health Promotion, Dr Rűdiger Krech.