Sweet news for fizzy drink lovers

– An independent panel advising the World Health Organisation (WHO) stopped short of recommending taxing sugary drinks to reduce obesity yesterday after failing to reach a consensus.

Some countries, such as Mexico, France and Britain, are already taxing sugary drinks and the WHO made a nonbinding recommendation in 2016 that governments should impose a 20% tax. Activists had hoped for a strong endorsement from the panel, which includes heads of

Geneva

states and health ministers. Yesterday, the panel called on governments to increase efforts to fight an explosive epidemic of noncommunicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries, which account for 71% of all deaths globally, or 41 million deaths a year.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus established the WHO Independent High-Level Commission on Noncommunicable Diseases last year to advise on how to reduce premature deaths from such diseases by one-third by 2030. The commission made six recommendations in its report, including for government heads to take responsibility for disease reduction and increasing regulation. It did not mention taxes specifically.

The panel said views were “conflicting” so recommendations on sugar taxes could not be reflected in the report. A WHO spokesperson said the report was from an independent commission, not the WHO, which he said sees the benefits of using tax to reduce consumption of harmful products, including sugary drinks. – Reuters