WHO calls on countries to increase taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries to increase taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks to “reduce the number of deaths” that occur annually from ingesting these types of drinks.

Likewise, the WHO has published new data showing “the low global rate of taxes applied to unhealthy products such as alcohol and sugary drinks”. For the organization, the results highlight that “most countries are not using taxes to encourage healthier behaviors.”

Every year 2.6 million people die in the world due to alcohol consumption and more than 8 million due to an unhealthy diet; “The application of taxes on alcohol and carbonated beverages will reduce these deaths,” the organization says.

In this sense, the data indicates that half of the countries that tax carbonated drinks also tax water, something that the WHO does not recommend.. Although 108 countries tax some type of sugary drink, globally, on average, the excise tax, a tax designated for a specific consumer product, represents 6.6% of the price of the soft drink.

Wine, exempt from special tax

At least 148 countries have applied excise taxes on alcoholic beverages at the national level. However, the WHO points out that wine is exempt from excise taxes in at least 22 countries, most of them in the European region.. Globally, the proportion of excise taxes in the price of the best-selling brand of beer is, on average, 17%. For the best-selling brand of the type of spirits it is 26.5%.

“Taxing unhealthy products generates healthier populations”

A 2017 study shows that taxes that increase alcohol prices by 50 percent would help prevent more than 21 million deaths over 50 years and generate nearly $17 trillion in additional revenue.. This is equivalent to the total public revenue of eight of the world's largest economies in one year.

“Taxing unhealthy products creates healthier populations. It has a positive ripple effect throughout society: less illness and debilitation and revenue for governments to provide public services. In the case of alcohol, taxes also help prevent violence and injuries from traffic accidents,” said the Director of Health Promotion at the World Health Organization, Rudiger Krech.

The example of Lithuania

The WHO gives as an example countries like Lithuania, which increased the tax on alcohol in 2017 to reduce consumption and have reduced deaths from alcohol-related diseases.. Lithuania increased alcohol tax revenue from €234 million in 2016 to €323 million in 2018 and saw alcohol-related deaths decrease from 23.4 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 18.1 per 100,000 people in 2018.

“Research shows that taxing alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages helps reduce consumption of these products and gives companies a reason to make healthier products.”. At the same time, taxes on these products help prevent injuries and non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease,” the WHO says.

Likewise, a recent Gallup poll, conducted in collaboration with the WHO and Bloomberg Philanthropies, found that the majority of people surveyed in all countries supported increasing taxes on unhealthy products such as alcohol and sugary drinks.