The Next and the How are questions that need to be answered if the results of a multi-country African study of the sugary beverage tax can be translated into a policy to combat spikes in non-communicable diseases. (Photo: sciencefocus.com / Wikipedia)
If you change your mind to change sugary beverage tax policy, the first thing you need to know better what you are dealing with. Researchers from seven African countries who have delved deeper are calling for taxes to be put on the table.
“What-Next” and “How” are questions that need to be answered if the results of a multi-country African study on sugary drinks tax (SSB) can be translated into a policy to combat spikes in non-communicable diseases.
The three and a half year research project initiated by PRICELESS SA, a department of the School of Public Health at Wits University, examined the potential and feasibility of introducing an SSB tax in seven countries: Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The research team consisted of more than 12 researchers from these countries as well as South Africa and Australia. Their results were recently presented in a webinar.
The main similarities underlying the results can be used to develop a more coherent strategy for future action. From the webinar presentations, it emerged that there is a need for more accurate data collection and analysis across the board, as well as more interdisciplinary and holistic research, with overlaps in health, business, public order, and politics and governance.
The researchers called for greater public awareness of the role of the SSB tax, as well as an improvement in nutritional literacy. Another call was for strong leadership; more transparency from industry and government; and the need to build cohesion to take effective collaborative action.
Anne-Marie Thow, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney who was part of the research team, highlighted some important similarities from the country-specific results.
Thow began her presentation by confirming growing evidence that diet-related choices and food consumption, including sugary beverages, are contributing to an increase in non-communicable diseases in all researched countries.
Thow said that despite a mounting public health crisis, it is not easy to put in place mechanisms like SSB taxation to curb the burden of obesity, diabetes and vascular disease. Pointing to the South African experience of collecting the health promotion tax, she said one of the biggest obstacles to implementing SBB taxation is an aggressive industry backlash.
She said there had been coordinated industrial opposition to measures to introduce the tax in South Africa. The tax that came into force in April 2018 was a triumph, but at around 11% it is below a 20% increase recommended by the WHO.
Thow added that the multinational food industry footprint and promise of economic prosperity are putting significant pressure on low- and middle-income countries, where governments welcome industrial investment and expansion in their countries.
“Industry concerns about the SSB tax are resonating with policymakers, but the livelihood and health debate needs to be incorporated into the decision-making process Estimate the real cost of a growing obesity epidemic, ”Thow said.
She also pointed to the trend for governments to make sugary beverages duty or taxable in some form, as a means of generating income rather than as an effective mechanism for positively influencing public health.
Different taxes should be introduced related to the sugar content of beverages, for example in countries like Mexico, Great Britain and South Africa. This led to increased prices for sugary drinks and encouraged growers to reformulate their products to reduce the sugar content.
In Rwanda, for example, there is an excise tax of 39% Researchers from that country said that one strategy is to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks, which is true for soft drinks, regardless of the sugar content. However, this applies to all non-alcoholic drinks.
Despite the obstacles, the research provides an opportunity to further open the “political window” to putting SSB taxation on the agenda in more countries. There She also said there are opportunities to “make ties with the US Agricultural sector to increase income through healthy local food production ”.
Milka Wanjohi of Kenya, a researcher at the African Population and Health Research Center, lifted another barrier to SSB taxation in her country in the form of conflicting agendas within the government. Wanjohi said, “While the Ministry of Health obstructed the trade, production and marketing of sugary beverages, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives promoted the sugar and food industries as the main revenue for the government.”
Wanjohi said the understanding that changing fiscal policies could save countries money in the long run needs to be emphasized. Spending less on caring for NCD patients by spending better on public news and using mechanisms like adequate, effective SSB taxes to contain the food industry can save you long-term savings.
She said: “Advocacy and awareness-raising, as well as research with local, regional and international knowledge, is needed to introduce a separate tax on sugary drinks in Kenya.”
Sambian Political science analyst Mulenga Mukanu, who was part of the research team, emphasized the importance of awareness in tackling harmful, widespread misconceptions that affect people’s eating habits.
“The people we interviewed linked wealth to the consumption of sugary beverages. They believed wealthier populations were more affected by diet-related diseases, ”she said.
Mukanu said research has shown the opposite, that it is poorer populations who eat more processed foods high in salt, fat, and sugar. She added, “Unhealthy foods are cheaper than healthier foods, but they have become very popular.”
She highlighted the problem that “people’s diet is not diverse, which could contribute to the development of non-communicable diseases. Corn porridge (thanks) is a staple food in the country and is consumed several times a day. “
In his lecture, Dr. Ruhara Mulindabigwi Charles, from the University of Rwanda, suggested that regional cooperation could be a way of countering pressure from multinational food and beverage giants. He said trade mechanisms and regionally coordinated regulations could empower the East African community to achieve effective SSB taxation in support of public health goals.
Focusing on his land again, he added that Rwanda should base its excise tax on sugar content alignment.
“Different taxes should be introduced related to the sugar content of beverages, for example in countries like Mexico, Great Britain and South Africa. This led to increased prices for sugary beverages and encouraged manufacturers to reformulate their products to lower the sugar content. “
For the researchers, the priority is to act immediately as the outlook grows bleak and bleak – especially for children.
Christiane Rudert, regional nutritionist from UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa in Kenya, who gave the keynote speech for the webinar, brought it home with some blatant facts. It is the reality of an already entrenched “double burden of malnutrition” – children who are malnourished and stunted on the one hand, and children who are overweight and obese on the other. And their caution is that the obesity problem is exploding.
“We expect the number of overweight and obese children to outnumber those of wasted children in the next few years,” she said. DM / MC