The World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Europe’s Advisory Council on Innovation and Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Advisory Council) proposed a new signature initiative on alcohol taxation. The initiative aims to enhance the region’s untapped power of health taxes.
In the WHO Europe Region, alcohol products cause almost 1 million deaths annually. Every day about 2500 Europeans die because of harm caused by the alcohol industry. These deaths due to alcohol come from a wide range of causes, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) as well as infectious diseases and injuries.
Member States can save thousands of lives in the European regions every year if they implement better alcohol taxation. Research shows that increasing the price of alcohol products through higher taxes is the most cost-effective alcohol policy solution to reduce the alcohol burden and improve health.
A study conducted by the NCD Advisory Council’s signature initiative working group found that 132,906 lives can be saved if WHO European countries introduced a minimum level of 15% tax on the retail price per unit of alcohol, regardless of the type of alcoholic beverage.
Dr. Carina Ferreira-Borges, ad interim Director for NCDs, Programme Manager for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs, WHO/Europe, drew comparisons between tobacco taxes and the state of alcohol taxes in the region. There is a consensus among Member States to follow WHO’s recommendation of a minimum 75% tax share of the retail price of tobacco. Already over half of the 53 countries in the region have achieved this target. However, the same measures for alcohol remain overlooked.
In the context of alcohol, taxation should be considered as a health measure, and not purely an economic instrument,” said Dr. Carina Ferreira-Borges, ad interim Director for NCDs, Programme Manager for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs, WHO/Europe, as per WHO/Europe News.
Dr. Carina Ferreira-Borges, ad interim Director for NCDs, Programme Manager for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs, WHO/Europe
Dr. Jürgen Rehm, who is a member of the WHO/Europe NCD Advisory Council explained the potential of alcohol tax improvements in the region.
We have calculated how an alcohol tax increase will impact mortality in the WHO European Region. And this data clearly demonstrates how beneficial this measure will be for people’s health,” added Dr. Jürgen Rehm, member of the NCD Advisory Council, Senior Scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada, as per WHO/Europe News.
Dr. Jürgen Rehm, member of the NCD Advisory Council, Senior Scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
Increasing alcohol taxes is a WHO-recommended “Best Buy” policy measure. This is because alcohol taxes deliver greater health impacts in reducing illness, disability, and premature death than other policy options.
Despite the benefits of alcohol taxation, it remains one of the least implemented measures in the WHO European Region. This lack of implementation of public health oriented, evidence-based alcohol taxation is mostly because of opposition from the alcohol industry.
When taxing alcohol the final price is what is the most important. Any amount of pure alcohol should cost the same – no matter the alcoholic beverage, concludes the signature initiative working group. This is called equalization. It means the amount of pure alcohol in an alcohol product will be taxed the same across different types of products such as beer, wine, or liquor.
We need to remember that the final price the consumer pays for the bottle is important. Consumers do not buy, for example, 10 grams of pure alcohol. They buy a bottle of beer or wine or spirits – so the price levels for any beverage should be at the same level depending on the amount of alcohol inside,” said Dr. Jürgen Rehm, as per WHO/Europe News.
Dr. Jürgen Rehm, member of the NCD Advisory Council, Senior Scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
The NCD Advisory Council is planning to support member states to harness the power of health taxes. Their signature initiative on taxation focuses on five key areas that will increase the untapped potential of health taxes for alcohol in the Region in an unprecedented way.
