Saving Lives and Mobilizing Revenue: A parliamentary action guide to health taxes

An estimated 41 million people worldwide died of preventable noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in 2019 which include diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Often, these diseases are caused by harmful products, such as alcohol, tobacco, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Reducing consumption of these products would improve health and save lives – and taxing these could also generate additional revenue. An increasingly popular approach to reducing NCDs is through health taxes, which are designed to reduce the consumption of products which a negative public health impact.