Tax sugary drinks to cut diabetes

As much as a 20 per cent hike in the retail price of sugary drinks would result in ‘proportional reductions in consumption of such products,’ a report titled ‘Fiscal policies for Diet and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)’, released this week says. Believing that consumption of free sugars, including sugary drinks, was a major factor in the global obesity and diabetes, Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention of NCDs says “If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives. They can also cut healthcare costs and increase revenues to invest in health services.”

Rise in levels of obesity has resulted in more than 1 in 3 adults above 18 years of age being declared overweight in 2014, that is 39 per cent of the population. About half a billion adults have been categorised as obese between 1980 and 2014. Besides, an additional 42 million children under 5 years of age is estimated to be above desired weight last year, accounting for about 11 million more during this period. Almost half - 48 per cent of these children - live in Asia and 25 per cent in Africa. 

With diabetes seeing to be on the rise, there has been a jump in the number of people living with this disease from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. WHO experts warn that people don’t need any extra sugar in their diet as their consumption exceeds a single serving of commonly consumed sugary drinks in a day. ”Consumption of free sugars, including products like sugary drinks, is a major factor in the global increase of people suffering from obesity and diabetes,” points out Dr Douglas Bettcher of WHO.