Your Excellency Prime Minister Mia Mottley,
The Right Honourable Helen Clark,
WHO Global Ambassador Mike Bloomberg,
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues and friends,
I thank Mike and your team at Bloomberg Philanthropies for hosting us today, and for your leadership on this issue.
Health taxes are more relevant than ever.
Around the world, countries face aid cuts, tightening budgets, rising debt, and growing demands for health financing.
Official development assistance is expected to decline by up to 40 percent this year, compared with two years ago.
At the same time, noncommunicable diseases continue to claim millions of lives each year, threatening the very foundations of sustainable development, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
But in the crisis lies an opportunity for countries to finally shake off the yoke of aid dependency, and transition towards a new era of sustainable self-reliance, based on domestic resources.
And one powerful tool for generating those resources is health taxes.
Health taxes are a win-win for people and economies:
They help to prevent disease and save lives by reducing consumption of harmful products;
And they can generate billions in revenue that countries can reinvest in health and development.
Health taxes are highly effective, but they are underutilized.
That is why WHO has launched the 3 by 35 Initiative: a call to action for countries to use tax increases to raise the real prices of three health-harming products – tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks – by at least 50% by 2035.
It’s ambitious, but we know it can be done, because countries are already doing it.
Over the last decade, about a quarter of WHO Member States raised tobacco taxes, including many of the countries in this room today, effectively increasing cigarette prices by at least 50 percent.
For example, Brazil has cut smoking rates in half by steadily increasing tobacco taxes.
Thailand channels tobacco and alcohol taxes into its national health promotion foundation.
Mexico’s tax on sugary drinks has reduced consumption while raising significant government revenue, and just this month Mexico announced plans to double that tax.
We know implementing health taxes is not simple. They can be politically unpopular, and they will attract opposition from powerful industries with deep pockets and a lot to lose.
It requires careful design, strong and sustained political will, and cross-sector collaboration.
We look to forwarding to learning from the countries here today about what is needed to make these important changes.
Thanks to all of you who have committed to smarter, fairer taxation that safeguards public health, strengthens domestic financing, and accelerates progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
WHO stands ready to support all countries to design and implement strong health taxes that will help to save lives, create more sustainable health systems, and boost economies.
Thank you.