The first and foremost step is to raise awareness about the increasing burden of lifestyle diseases in the country ways to prevent them
Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) has urged Government of India to levy an additional tax on products with high sugar, sodium, salt or tobacco content to reduce burden of lifestyle disease. It may be noted that in June 2016, the Government of Fiji increased taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugar sweetened beverages as all lead to increased risk of developing NCDs. The tobacco and alcohol taxes have been increased by 18.5 per cent and a new levy on sugar-sweetened drinks has been introduced. Mexico started a similar tax in 2014, which resulted in a 12 per cent reduction in sugary drinks sales within a year of the tax being implemented.
“IMA and HCFI commends this decision taken by both the governments of Fiji and Mexico to control these cardiovascular risk factors through taxation. We believe that a similar tax must also be imposed in India, which has seen a considerable rise in the number of lifestyle diseases over the past decade owing to the high stressed unhealthy lifestyle lived my majority of the population. India is already the diabetes capital of the world and is inching towards becoming the heart disease capital as well. The country is more at risk than ever before and steps must be taken on priority to raise awareness and reduce the disease burden,” said Dr KK Aggarwal, President HCFI and Secretary General, IMA.
The first and foremost step is to raise awareness about the increasing burden of lifestyle diseases in our country and the ways in which they can be prevented. In the long run it is important for the administration to consider following taxation laws similar to that in Mexico and Fiji. Given the diversity of India, it would be recommended to take Mexico and Fiji’s policy on sweetened beverages as a benchmark and customise it to suit the Indian needs.
Evidence has shown that simple increases in tobacco prices through taxation are the most cost-effective way for governments to reduce tobacco use. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a 10 per cent increase in tobacco retail price (in middle income countries) results in a five per cent decrease in consumption. A new report in The Lancet has estimated that reducing sugar content in sugar sweetened drinks by 40 per cent over five years could prevent half a million people from becoming overweight and a million people from becoming obese.