Non-communicable diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, and diabetes, are the leading cause of the death in low- and middle-income countries. Many of these deaths could be avoided by reducing smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and high-sugar diets.
In 2018, Michael Bloomberg and Larry Summers (co-chairs) convened a Task Force on Fiscal Policies for Health to encourage the uptake of health taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The Task Force culminated in the publication of the final Task Force report. As part of the Task Force, CGD continued to push forward the recommendations of the report by engaging and convening policymakers and pushing for international financial institutions to progress the agenda.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, a fiscal, debt, and health financing crisis has emerged in most low- and middle-income countries, opening up a new policy window for progress on health taxes. Consequently, the co-chairs of the Task Force, including Mia Amor Mottley, reconvened the Task Force in 2024 and designated CGD as secretariat. The final Task Force report, published in September 2024, reaffirmed that health taxes are a win-win policy, raising much-needed revenue and saving lives—but also found that countries are losing ground, necessitating a renewed effort to promote this policy.
