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Australia ought to comply with the worldwide pattern and put a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks or stay the “odd one out”, the Australian Medical Affiliation says.
The docs’ foyer group has renewed requires the impost, releasing a brand new report exhibiting one other 40 international jurisdictions have launched a sugar tax since June 2021, taking the full to 85.
Australians drink sufficient sugary drinks to fill 960 Olympic swimming swimming pools every year, and the federal government ought to “assist” individuals break their sugar dependancy and select water as a substitute, vice chairman Danielle McMullen stated on Friday.
The federal authorities might apply a tax of 40 cents for each 100 grams of sugar that producers add to drinks, Dr McMullen stated.
“That may imply only a 16-cent enhance to the value of a daily can of fizzy drink, however for that, you will get an important well being final result,” she stated.
The affiliation estimates a tax would, over 25 years, end in 16,000 fewer instances of sort 2 diabetes, 1100 fewer instances of stroke, and 4400 fewer instances of coronary heart illness.
It will additionally generate annual income of as much as $814 million that might go in direction of preventative well being measures, Dr McMullen stated.
“It is no marvel 85 governments throughout the globe are selecting to tax sugary drinks and different merchandise this manner, as a result of the proof is exhibiting it is efficient at lowering consumption of those merchandise and elevating income, so why not in Australia?
“It is simply baffling why Australia is unwilling to make the most of this win-win-situation, particularly at a time when healthcare prices are beneath the highlight, you’d suppose the federal government would take each alternative to cut back the power illness burden on the well being system and enhance its backside line on the identical time.”
Sugary drinks erode and decay tooth, in response to the affiliation’s “Why tax sugary drinks?” report.
The report highlights 4 in 10 Australian youngsters have dental caries of their child tooth.
Caries develop when mouth micro organism metabolise sugars, producing acid which eats away at tooth enamel and dentine.
– AAP
