10.6 Million People Die From Overconsumption Of Alcohol, Sugary Beverages Yearly – WHO Reveals

A new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has revealed that about 10.6 million people die every year from the excessive consumption of alcohol and sugary beverages.

Naija News reports that to lower the number of people who die from alcohol consumption and other harmful habits, WHO advocated for higher levies on alcoholic beverages and sugar-sweetened beverages.

According to the World Health Organization, 2.6 million fatalities worldwide are attributed to alcohol consumption, while over eight million are caused by poor diets. The organization said that imposing taxes on alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) will help lower these death rates.

WHO’s latest statistic, which was made public on Tuesday, revealed that taxes on unhealthy goods, such as alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages, are levied at a low rate worldwide.

According to the findings, most countries do not use taxes to incentivize better behaviours.

The report said that“Half of all countries taxing SSBs are also taxing water, which is not recommended by WHO. Although 108 countries are taxing some sort of sugar-sweetened beverage, globally, on the average excise tax, a tax designated for a specified consumer product, represents just 6.6 percent of the price of soda.

“At least 148 countries have applied excise taxes to alcoholic beverages at the national level. However, wine is exempted from excise taxes in at least 22 countries, most of which are in the European Region. Globally, on average, the excise tax share in the price of the most sold brand of beer is 17.2 percent. For the most sold brand of the most sold spirits type, it is 26.5 percent.”