Health taxes for a healthy future: realizing fiscal opportunities for health and health care financing

Every year, more than 10 million people die unnecessarily from consuming tobacco, alcohol and sugary beverages. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises constraining fiscal space, financing for health care and social services is stagnating or facing cuts – endangering progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Evidence shows that health taxes are among the most effective measures to reduce consumption of harmful products, especially when embedded in a strategic public health approach. Yet, global implementation remains vastly underutilized. For instance, WHO’s 2021 Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic found that only 13% of the world’s population is protected by tobacco taxes at best-practice levels. Governments are missing a cost-effective opportunity to improve health, raise revenue, advance equity and save lives.

To explore how to accelerate the implementation of health taxes, this lunch-time discussion will consider:

1. What are the barriers for policy-makers to accelerate health taxes implementation?
2. How can health research and learning help overcome these barriers?
3. How can global institutions and agencies best support the effective implementation of health taxes?