Garth Rattray | Thoughts about the sugary drinks tax

The Government announced the introduction of a new Special Consumption Tax (SCT) on non-alcoholic sweetened beverages. It is expected to raise $10.1 billion during the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Ostensibly, this SCT will deter the public from consuming [commercially] sweetened drinks.

The administration had already sought to reduce the availability of sugary drinks in schools because the rate of excessive weight and obesity in children is very concerning. This new ‘sin’ tax is expected to help reduce adiposity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Jamaica.

Based on 2016–2022 data, 54 to 61 per cent of Jamaican adults are classified as overweight or obese. This is more so among women. Two-thirds of our 15-year-old (and over) girls are overweight or obese. This is especially seen in urban areas.

Recent data showed that approximately 12 percent to 12.5 per cent (more than a quarter of a million) of Jamaicans between the ages of 15 and 79 years of age are living with diabetes mellitus. The majority are women. And many others are pre-diabetic.

The Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) has consistently stated that 41 million people die from [preventable] NCDs annually. These [premature] deaths are mostly from low-and middle-income countries. PAHO asserts that reducing the use of – tobacco, the harmful use of alcohol, and discouraging an unhealthy diet would go a far way in reducing the health and financial burden on society and save lives.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) posits that sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxation policies will promote healthy diets. In fact, they produced an SSB manual on taxation that linked excess sugar to type 2 diabetes mellitus, dental caries, excess weight, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and strokes.

Up until recently, 130 territories in 120 countries have instituted a tax on SSBs. Jamaica is the most recent country to embark on SSB taxation on non-alcoholic beverages to combat weight-related NCDs. Of our neighbours, Barbados was the first in 2015. Dominica introduced a 10 percent excise tax on sugary drinks. Other islands include Bermuda and Antigua.

Not long ago, the Medical Association of Jamaica embarked on an anti-obesity campaign that lasted for two years. They asked manufacturers to [gradually] cut back on the sugars in the drinks. They flatly refused.

Perhaps my approach to problems is too pragmatic. To reduce sugar consumption, simply apply the SCT directly to sugar. Although Barbados doubled its SSB tax from 10 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2022, and other SSB-taxed countries, like Mexico and the UK demonstrated a reduction in sugar content, sales and consumption of SSBs, the hoped for reduction in NCDs has not been realised. Apparently, citizens are substituting SSBs with other sugary products and [perhaps] preparing their own SSBs at home.

Little reduction in consumption

In thinking about this SSB tax, it is obvious that the government is banking on the income, which means that it anticipates that there will be little or no reduction in sugar consumption, and these sugary drinks will continue to be sold and therefore generate the earmarked revenue. It seems to me that, if a healthier lifestyle is indeed the ultimate goal, a portion of those funds must be channelled into subsidising the production of more affordable healthy products. I note that both views are also held by the Opposition Spokesperson on Finance, Mr Julian Robinson.

The glaring drawback of the SSB tax is that it will mostly impact the poor and underprivileged. Traditionally, sweetened beverages, whether from home or purchased outside, are what many poor kids use for their daily energy needs. And hard-working labourers who burn off many hundreds of Calories every day use sweetened drinks for their source of energy.

The inability of modern-day children to simply play is a huge problem. Nowadays, there is mainly organised sporting activities that are apparently aimed at producing scholarship-winning or elite athletes for the international stage. Childhood games like dandy-shandy, catch, tag, and bull in the pen are just about extinct.

Further, where do the children play? Town planners focussed solely on income generation, and greedy developers have made safe green spaces a relic of the past. All we have are more and more high-rise concrete jungle edifices. The kids are relegated to video games. No wonder they can’t burn off the sugar like they used to when I was a child.

Excessive body weight and diabetes are not the only NCDs. In 2008, the Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey found a prevalence of high total cholesterol of 11.7 per cent among individuals aged 15 to 74 years. And the ‘silent killer’, hypertension (the most common non-communicable disease in Jamaica) affects about 31 to 34 per cent of us. Shockingly, about 40 per cent are undiagnosed, and/or uncontrolled.

Projections are that NCDs will account for J$2.8 trillion in treatment and loss of productivity costs between 2015 and 2030. They will account for two-thirds of all deaths in Jamaica. so, where is the ‘sin’ tax on some fast-food products to dissuade people from consuming them in such large quantities and with such regularity?

If we are serious, besides the prohibitive ‘sin’ taxes on unhealthy products, we need to invest more in public education, providing affordable food and beverage alternatives, and have safe, and accessible green spaces for children to play, and for adults to exercise outdoors. Our approach must be holistic, and the goal must be to effect a change in eating and exercise habits. Otherwise, we will collect revenue but fail at improving the health of the people.

Garth Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice, and author of ‘The Long and Short of Thick and Thin’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.