Launch of BMJ Global Health special collection on health taxes
Health taxes can save lives, raise government revenues and improve equity. However, they directly conflict with commercial actors’ interests. Both pro-tax health advocates and anti-tax industry representatives seek to frame health tax policy. A lack of appreciation for political challenges can hamper national adaptation and adoption of health taxes. There is increasing recognition of the need to explore political economy factors – while any health policy process is inherently political, applying health policy and political economy analysis can improve policy design and accelerate implementation.
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (a WHO-hosted partnership), with support from the Government of Norway and in collaboration with WHO and the Inter-Agency Working Group on Health Taxes, established a research programme to provide health policy analysis for health taxes in eight low- and middle-income countries in 2021 with research teams in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru and Viet Nam. The programme developed case studies examining how political economy factors influence and frame health taxes design, adoption and implementation. This work, along with other studies, is captured in a special collection of BMJ Global Health that was launched at this event.
Opening remarks
- Dr Kumanan RASANATHAN, Executive Director, The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research
Moderator
- Dr Robert MARTEN, The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research
Presenters
- Dr Arti SINGH, Senior Lecturer/Public Health Senior Specialist, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health (SPH), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana
- Dr Abdillah AHSAN, Researcher, Center for Islamic Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia
- Dr Daniel ASFAW ERKU, Research Fellow, University of Gondar, Ethiopia
- Ms Blanca Amalia LLORENTE CARREÑO, Research Director, Fundación Anáas, Colombia
Respondent
- Mr Jeremias PAUL, Unit Head, Fiscal Policies for Health Unit, Department of Health Promotion, WHO Headquarters