Soda tax would serve Malaysians well, say consumer groups
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CONSUMER groups and health policy advocates have urged Putrajaya to implement a tax on sweet drinks, while rejecting the move to reduce the price of sugar.
They said diabetes, which afflicts some 2.5 million Malaysian adults, must be tackled at the root cause to save the government millions in medical costs.
“The price reduction (of sugar) doesn’t make sense because on one hand, we complain about obesity and medical problems, but we refuse to act on the root problem, which is our excessive intake of sugar,” said Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) vice-president Mohideen Abdul Kader.
Revenue from a soda tax or tax on sweet consumables could then be used to support sports activities and health awareness campaigns, added CAP president S.M. Mohamad Idris.
“In the UK, the tax is used to fund sports and physical education activities in primary schools and to promote other physical activities. In Mexico, the tax is accompanied by awareness campaigns among the public,” he said.
About 2.5 million Malaysians aged 18 and above have diabetes, according to the National Diabetes Institute in July. Malaysia has the highest rate of diabetes in Asia, and one of the highest in the world, its executive chairman Dr Mustaffa Embong had reportedly said.
Last year, the government said some it spent RM1.6 million annually on 40,000 stage 5 kidney patients who required haemodialysis. The figure was out of 400,000 people who had kidney problems.
If the trend is not reversed, Malaysia is on track to becoming the country with the highest rate of kidney failures by 2030.
The possibility of a soda tax was first brought up by DAP lawmaker Tony Pua. The idea has since been well-received by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) said the tax should be used for education and awareness programmes about the dangers of sugar.
Its chief executive officer, Paul Selvaraj, also said coloured labels should be put on edibles to guide and warn consumers about food and drinks with high sugar content.
For example, a green label would denote that an item has healthy sugar levels while a red label would serve as a warning that the item contained a high amount of sugar.
However, health policy studies group the Galen Centre said Putrajaya should go beyond a soda tax on consumers and instead tax manufacturers.
“Drinks that contain a certain amount of sugar should be taxed. This is to encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar in their products to avoid being taxed,” he said.
Taxing manufacturers might be an easier way to cut down sugar consumption, especially among teenagers who love sweet drinks.
The Adolescent Health Survey 2017 by the Public Health Institute found that one third, or 36%, of teens consumed at least one soft drink a day.
Overall, sugar consumption among teenagers had increased from 29.5g in 2012 to 40.7g last year.
Holistic approach
Tackling Malaysia’s sweet tooth requires a holistic approach because a soda tax may not have the desired effect, the think-tank Penang Institute said in a recent report.
It said consumers could still shift their choices to other types of sweet food and drinks to avoid paying the soda tax.
A soda tax would also not affect eateries that prepare drinks on the spot with sugar upon the customer’s order, such as Indian-Muslim restaurants and coffeeshops.
Fomca vice-president K. Koris Aman said carbonated drinks should also be banned from sale in schools.
Overall, policymakers need to realise that sugar is the bane of many more health problems and not just diabetes, Mohideen said in disagreeing with the recent move to reduce the price of sugar by 10 sen per kg.
Effective on Saturday, the price of coarse sugar went down 10 sen to RM2.85 per kg and fine sugar to RM2.95 per kg, in line with lower world sugar prices.
“Sugar is behind many illnesses and there is scientific evidence to back this up – cancer, heart problems, diabetes – excessive intake of sugar contributes to all of these.
“It is a cost burden to the country as the number of patients increase,” Mohideen said. – September 4, 2018.
