[TheCINet] Resources like Coca Cola - Funding our work

2 comments

We know from best practice approaches that resources are available for population level prevention programs to build health literacy in the population and reduce the burdens of communicable and non communicable diseases.

Fiscal policy initiatives which annually tax unhealthy products like tobacco, sugar sweetened drinks, powdered milk substitutes and highly processed foods high in sugar, fat and salt can bring in millions in revenue while simultaneously reducing consumption of these products, particularly with price sensitive consumers.

Instead of these funds going into the black hole of consolidated revenue they could be re-channelled through a health promotion foundation to fund priority communication campaigns to reduce the burdens causing these health conditions and the resultant health care costs and productivity losses.

This requires good advocacy and lobbying to the Government as well as politicians brave and caring enough to want to make a difference.

It is the underlying structural factors that need to be addressed - funding, technical capacity, political will - before any successful SBCC initiatives can be implemented and evaluated for their behavioural impact.

Ed - Many thanks to Tahir for raising the vitally important issue of how we can significantly expand funding for all of our work. Agree? Disagree? What are your own ideas for expanding our funding base? Thanks for joining this conversation. PLease reply by email or online at the links above and below. Thanks - Warren

Comments

Robert

Cohen

Expanding funding for SBCC work - sugary beverages taxes

Good thinking! (See Resources like Coca Cola: Funding all of our work)

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugary_drink_tax#Revenue

"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that a national targeted tax on sugar in soda could generate $14.9 billion in the first year alone.[citation needed] The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that a nation-wide three-cent-per-ounce tax would generate over $24 billion over four years.[32] Some tax measures call for using the revenue collected to pay for relevant health needs: improving diet, increasing physical activity, obesity prevention, nutrition education, advancing healthcare reform, etc.[33] Another area to which the revenue raised by a soda tax might go, as suggested by Mike Rayner of the United Kingdom, is to subsidize healthier foods like fruits and vegetables.