The language on health taxes has been further weakened in the latest draft of the political declaration on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), due to be adopted by the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) in September  – and it’s a done deal unless UN member states raise specific ojections.

Member states have until noon Eastern Time on Thursday to “break the silence” on the draft political declaration, which involves reopening negotiations on issues that are considered “red lines” by member states.

Reference to a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) has been removed altogether, while languge on alcohol policy has been watered down, the NCD Alliance told a meeting of allies on Wednesday.

The target of getting member states to “implement health taxes” on unhealthy products such as tobacco, alcohol and SSBs in the zero draft, has been replaced by asking them to “consider” measures such as “policies and fiscal measures for prevention and health promotion”, said Marijke Kremin, the NCD Alliance’s advocacy and policy manager in New York.

In addition, the language on the environmental determinants of NCDs (primarily air pollution) has also been weakened, said Kremin.

The zero draft’s target of 80% of primary health facilities having access to essential medicines for NCDs and mental health by 2030 has been reduced to 60%.

Some targets survive

However, tobacco control, hypertension and improving mental health care remain the cornerstones of proposed action to contain NCDs. 

The zero draft’s 2030 global targets of 150 million fewer people using tobacco, 150 million more people controlling their hypertension and 150 million more people having access to mental health care, have survived the negotiations.

Kremin said that the coming weeks ahead of the HLM on 25 September could be “very fast moving and potentially somewhat volatile” as “breaking the silence is becoming more and more commonplace”.

“We see a handful of countries breaking silence over a handful of routine items,” she explained.

“In the instances where silence is broken, that usually means the [country] delegation will work things out bilaterally with the co-facilitators. Any changes to the text means that an updated document is re-shared and placed back under silence.” 

Once the co-facilitators decide that they have worked enough with member states in good faith, they will submit it to the President of the General Assembly. 

Despite the UN member states’ reluctance to encourage health taxes – largely attributed to power lobbying by tobacco, alcohol and junk food companies – there is growing recognition that such taxes can help address the crisis of funding for global health.

On Tuesday, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyusus told African leaders in Ghana that a 50% increase on taxes on harmful products like tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks could “generate an additional $3.7 trillion globally within five years and save millions of lives”. 

Image Credits: Adam Jones / Flickr, Heala_SA/Twitter.