In the coming days, National Assembly members will vote on measures that protect youth and community health and also boost Viet Nam’s economy.
Reforming tobacco and alcohol tax and introducing a tax on sugary drinks would benefit health, improve productivity and reduce the burden of disease, said World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Viet Nam Dr Angela Pratt.
"Law makers have a historic opportunity in the coming days to achieve a ‘win-win’ of reducing the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks – and therefore reducing harm and health costs for decades to come – while generating additional revenue for key Government priorities. Reducing consumption of these unhealthy products will improve population health, and in doing so, workforce participation and productivity,” said Dr Pratt.
Today, high rates of smoking, alcohol consumption and rapidly rising consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, including amongst youth, are threats to both health and economic growth in Viet Nam. The National Assembly has the chance to help address these risks, and in doing so, contribute to long-term prosperity.
Tobacco is very cheap in Viet Nam. Half of smokers who do not quit will die prematurely from health issues related to tobacco. With more than 15 million current smokers in Viet Nam, tobacco use is fuelling a growing crisis of illness and premature deaths. On current trends, Viet Nam will not meet national or international targets to reduce the number of smokers by 2030.
The economic costs of smoking are estimated at 108,000 billion VND each year, or about 1.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), through lost productivity and health-care expenditure. Tobacco use also deepens poverty – with poorer families buying tobacco rather than spending money on their children’s education or other needs.
Alcohol use is responsible for over 30 groups of diseases and health disorders including liver cirrhosis, cancer and mental health problems. Furthermore, drink driving is a leading cause of traffic injuries and fatalities, and intoxication from alcohol is a major risk factor for domestic violence. Alcohol consumption in Viet Nam has also been increasing rapidly, from the equivalent of 6.6 litres of pure alcohol in 2010 to 9.3 litres in 2019.
For sugary drinks, there is strong evidence that people who regularly consume them face an increased risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. In Viet Nam, NCDs are responsible for 80% of deaths, with many people dying young, often when they are still of working age.
Drinking sugary beverages is also linked to weight gain and obesity in children and adults, which are major risk factors for many diseases, and especially unhealthy for children.
Yet in Viet Nam, there has been a rapid rise in the consumption of sugary drinks over the past 15 years. In 2023, people here drank four times as many sugary drinks as in 2009. In 2023, on average, every person in Viet Nam drank nearly 70 litres of sugary drinks a year – or one and a third litres every week.
Children and young people are especially at risk. At a time when their bodies and brains are developing, they are more susceptible to marketing, can be harmed more by substances like tobacco, alcohol and sugar, and risk establishing lifelong bad habits.
These harms are why WHO recommends three important decisions when the National Assembly votes on the revised Excise Tax Bill, to send consumers price signals about the risks of unhealthy products.
On tobacco, WHO congratulates the Ministry of Finance and the Government on the draft Revised Excise Tax Law but recommends going further.
Dr Pratt said, “When the National Assembly considers these issues, we urge lawmakers to be ambitious, and vote for a specific tax of 15,000 VND per pack by 2030, on top of the current percentage rate of 75% of the factory price. This would help reduce men’s smoking to below 36% by 2030, in line with the national target, and mean 3.2 million fewer smokers by 2030.”
WHO’s recommended tobacco tax reform would also bring in an extra 29.3 trillion dong in 2030 compared to 2020 for public goods and services – like health, education and infrastructure – to promote and sustain economic growth.
For alcohol, WHO recommends the higher alcohol tax option, as per the original proposal of the Government, because higher excise rates should lead to a greater decrease in the affordability of alcohol products, which will contribute to a reduction in alcohol consumption and related harm. In addition, the higher increase in excise on alcohol will generate higher Government tax revenues.
On sugary drinks, the Revised Special Consumption Tax Law proposes introducing a modest tax of 10% on the factory price. This is just one quarter of WHO’s recommended 40%, but it is a positive first step – which would send a signal to both the industry and consumers and provide a basis for future tax increases.
WHO urges decision makers to support ambitious tobacco and alcohol tax reforms and introduce a significant tax on sugary drinks to protect youth and community health and the prosperity of current and future generations.