The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that low taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol are making harmful products cheaper, driving noncommunicable diseases and injuries while increasing pressure on health care systems.

In two global reports released recently, WHO noted how low tax rates in most countries were allowing unhealthy products to become increasingly affordable, particularly for children and young adults.

The agency warned that weak tax policies were undermining efforts to prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancers and alcohol-related injuries, while health systems struggle to cope with growing demand.

WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that health taxes remain one of the most powerful tools available to governments.

He stated that increasing taxes on products such as sugary drinks and alcohol could reduce harmful consumption while unlocking new revenue for essential health services.

According to the reports, the global market for sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages generates billions of dollars in profits each year.

However, WHO said governments capture only a small share of this value through health-motivated taxes, leaving societies to shoulder the long-term costs through rising health care spending, lost productivity and avoidable illness.

The findings showed that while at least 116 countries impose some form of tax on sugary drinks, these measures are often narrow in scope.

WHO noted that many high-sugar products, including 100% fruit juices, sweetened milk drinks and ready-to-drink coffees and teas, frequently escape taxation.

 Although 97% of countries tax energy drinks, this proportion has not changed since 2023. On average, sugary drink taxes account for only around 2% of the retail price of a common soda.

A separate WHO report on alcohol taxation found that 167 countries levy taxes on alcoholic beverages, while 12 ban alcohol entirely.

Despite this, alcohol has become more affordable or has not increased in price in most countries since 2022, largely because tax rates have failed to keep pace with inflation and income growth.

Director of WHO’s Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention, Dr Etienne Krug, also warned that cheaper alcohol fuels violence, injuries and disease.

He said that while industry profits continue to grow, the public bears the health consequences and societies absorb the wider economic costs.

Across regions, WHO found that tax shares on alcohol remain low, with global median excise shares of about 14% for beer and 22.5% for spirits. Sugary drink taxes were described as weak and poorly targeted, often covering only a fraction of the market.

Few countries regularly adjust taxes for inflation, allowing health-harming products to become steadily more affordable over time.

WHO is now urging countries to raise and redesign health taxes as part of its “3 by 35” initiative, which aims to increase the real prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks by 2035.

The organization said making these products less affordable over time could help prevent disease, reduce pressure on health care systems and generate sustainable funding for public health.