Africa: First Ladies Call For Alcohol Taxation
First ladies attending the African Union summit in Niamey, Niger issued a strong call for increases in taxes on cancer-causing products such as tobacco and alcohol.
On the sidelines of the summit, Sika Bella Kabore, the first lady of Burkina Faso, delivered a joint appeal for more effective measures to tackle cancer. In unity, the African First Ladies called for higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol and other carcinogenic products.
Both alcohol and cigarettes are cheaper in most African countries than in western countries, where a tax on such products tends to be incorporated into health policies.
Alcohol taxation is highly impactful in health, development promotion
IOGT International welcomes the increasing calls for health promotion taxation.
Already in 2015, did the East African Alcohol Policy Alliance together with IOGT International launch a report about the importance of alcohol taxation to promote health and development for all.
Alcohol Taxation – A Win-Win Measure For Financing Development
Since then, the scientific evidence has further strengthened and calls for implementation of health promotion taxation have intensified. For instance, WHO data showed that countries in Africa are now bearing the heaviest burden of alcohol-related disease and injury, but alcohol policy implementation remains weak and insufficient.
To this effect, alcohol policy alliances, together with IOGT International issues a renewed call for more action recently.
Prioritization of Alcohol Control Policy will safeguard Public Health in Africa
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For further reading
More resources about the efficacy of alcohol taxation:
- New Resource: Alcohol and NCDs – Harm and Solutions. IOGT International has released a brand new resource to illustrate how alcohol fuels the global NCDs tsunami – based on latest scientific evidence – and to outline cost-effective solutions for change.
- Global Task Force Calls for Alcohol, Tobacco Tax Increase. The Task Force on Fiscal Policy for health recommends tax increases to curb the harm of NCDs. They suggest through research to increase taxes high enough to bring up the price by 50% on alcohol and tobacco as well as sugary drinks.
- Research article: The Use of Excise Taxes to Reduce Tobacco, Alcohol, and Sugary Beverage Consumption.
- World Bank: Alcohol Taxes for Universal Health Coverage. A new World Bank Group report entitled “High-Performance Health Financing for Universal Health Coverage – Driving Sustainable, Inclusive Growth in the 21st Century” clearly highlights the important role of alcohol (and other health promotion) taxation for achieving universal health coverage (UHC).
