Kenya is among the countries that are not taxing enough on alcohol and sugary drinks to discourage their consumption, the World Health Organisation has warned.
In its new reports, on taxing sugary drinks and alcohol, WHO said Governments should “significantly strengthen” taxes on alcoholic and sugary drinks as these products are getting cheaper, and inflating medical costs.
Specifically, the organisation points to these products fueling obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancers and injuries.
“In most countries, these taxes are too low to be effective, poorly designed, not adjusted regularly, and rarely aligned with public health objectives,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“As a result, alcohol and sugary drinks have become more affordable, even as diseases and injuries associated with their consumption continue to place growing strain on health systems, families and budgets.”
Kenya is among the 10 countries in Africa where the research was conducted and it emerged that only 14 per cent of countries adjust taxes according to inflation, allowing health-harming products to become steadily more affordable.
In the case of sugary drinks, at least 116 countries across the world tax these, but there are several weaknesses, the biggest being that taxes are too low, according to the WHO report on sugary drinks taxes.
WHO noted that the combined global market for sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages generates billions of dollars in profits. However, governments capture only a small share of this value through health-motivated taxes, leaving societies to shoulder the long-term health and economic costs associated with excessive consumption.
The average tax is around 9 per cent, while the average tax on a 330ml can of soda is merely 2.4 per cent, according to the report.
“The tax burden of sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages is very low, with the global median excise tax share and total tax share being 2.4 per cent and 17.8per cent, respectively, with significant heterogeneity across WHO regions,” the report on use of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes reads.
Some countries only tax sodas, meaning that fruit juices, sweetened milk drinks, and ready-to-drink coffees and teas high in sugar escape taxation. Sweetened milk products are the least likely to be taxed.
In Kenya there has been a spike in related diseases where more than one million children aged 5-19 are projected that they will be obese by 2030, according to UNICEF.
This is as new data show a sharp rise in overweight and obesity among adolescents, driven by the marketing and availability of ultra-processed foods.
Since 2013, consumption of sugary drinks has increased globally by 14 per cent, and the most popular brands have become cheaper over the last three decades in most countries, according to WHO.
Other diseases associated with these drinks like diabetes have been on the rise in Kenya.
The World Health Organization said the global median excise tax shares remain low, accounting for 20.9 per cent of the retail price of beer and 28.4 per cent of the retail price of spirits.
Further warning that “alcohol has become more affordable or remained unchanged in price in most countries since 2022, as taxes fail to keep pace with inflation and income growth.”
WHO Assistant Director-General Jeremy Farrar added that “the evidence from tobacco is obviously extremely strong that if taxation is increased, consumption reduces” and that “we can anticipate from the existing evidence that this will be true for alcohol and sugary drinks as well”.
by JACKTONE LAWI
