Statement

On the Exclusion of Sugar Tax recommendations in WHO Independent High-Level Commission on NCDs Report

Monday, 4 June, 2018 (Geneva, Switzerland) –The NCD Alliance today reiterated its call to governments to follow World Health Organisation (WHO) evidence –based guidance to put the health of their citizens first and adopt a more comprehensive approach to taxation – including sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) at the upcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) this coming September in New York.

“Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes´s time has come and going forward will become the new norm, not the exception,” said Katie Dain, CEO of The NCD Alliance. “We believe that there is more than ample evidence to suggest such a tax is a key public health intervention that can help to drive down the obesity epidemic and in combination with other taxes on tobacco and alcohol save millions of lives.

“The NCD Alliance is disappointed that Time To Deliver, the Final Report of the WHO Independent High-Level Commission on NCDs released last Friday June 1^st, failed to recommend a tax on SSBs while at the same time calling for fiscal measures including raising taxes on tobacco and alcohol. It runs contrary to WHO’s evidence-based guidance and reports which WHO Director-General Dr Tedros has consistently reinforced, including the NCD Best Buys and the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity which highlight SSB taxes as one part of an essential package of interventions that can be used to reduce obesity and NCDs”.

Comprehensive policies for sugar, tobacco, and alcohol tax (STAX) have been, or are now being, introduced in diverse contexts, including Botswana, Chile, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and the UK. Despite industry efforts, STAX are gaining more attention as an indispensable policy tool to improve public health, save millions of lives, hold the private sector accountable, and generate resources to invest in health, nutrition and other sustainable development priorities.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Michael Kessler

Mob:+34 655 792 699

Email: [email protected]

Skype: mickgpi

Twitter: @mickessler

SSB, obesity

Resources

Time to Deliver: report of the WHO Independent High-Level Commission on NCDs

The recommendations in this report are intended for Heads of State and Government and policy-makers across government sectors, as well as other stakeholders, and as input towards the third High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on NCDs.

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STATEMENT - On the exclusion of sugar tax recommendations in WHO HLC on NCDs Report

Statement

Time to Deliver: report of the WHO Independent High-Level Commission on NCDs

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