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The World Health Organization keeps stressing a point we know all too well, but which is still ignored by many governments: the need to take measures to discourage the consumption of alcohol, sugary drinks and tobacco. How can we do this? One effective tool, which could prevent millions of preventable diseases and strengthen public health systems, could be a significant increase in taxes on these products.
The WHO Director-General reiterated this message on February 2, at the opening of the 158th session of the Executive Board, recalling the need to increase the real prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks through specific health taxes by at least 50% by 2035.
According to the WHO, alcohol, sugar-sweetened beverages and tobacco are still too cheap in many countries, partly due to weak or non-existent tax policies. In some cases, prices have even fallen over time, making these products increasingly accessible, especially to young people.
According to experts, the result is an increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes, obesity and overweight, cardiovascular disease and cancer. These non-communicable diseases now account for more than 75% of deaths worldwide, and are placing an even greater burden on healthcare systems that are already under pressure.
On this point, the WHO is clear: higher taxes reduce consumption. This is not an ideological assumption, but a conclusion based on decades of scientific evidence.
Higher prices reduce the purchase of harmful products, discourage young people from starting to use them, and generate additional public revenue that can be reallocated to healthcare, prevention and social services (although not always automatically).
It's precisely for this reason that WHO advocates well-designed taxes that take account of inflation and do not gradually erode.
WHO estimates that a one-off 50% increase in the prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages could prevent up to 50 million premature deaths over the next 50 years, and help raise up to $1,000 billion for public health and development.
The WHO also cites concrete examples: by 2025, countries such as Malaysia, Mauritius, Slovakia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam will have introduced or increased such taxes; by early 2026, India will have introduced a new excise tax on tobacco and Saudi Arabia a progressive tax on sweetened beverages.
The World Health Organization's message is clear: intervening on prices is a political choice, not just a technical measure. Diseases linked to tobacco, alcohol and sweetened beverages are not inevitable. Reducing them rapidly is possible and, according to the WHO, health taxes remain the most effective and immediate means of achieving this.
(©GreenMe.it 2026/Managing Editor: Selma Keshkire - The Press Junction/Illustratie: ©Matthew Ansley via Unsplash)