NHS plans to tax sugar in hospitals

This Guardian story outlines the plans of new NHS Chief Executive, Simon Stevens, to place a tax on sugar in hospitals. It is an interesting approach to combating the obesity epidemic sweeping the western world and is expected to improve the health of 1.3 million NHS workers by raising approximately £30m a year, and he is urging the government to force food firms into action.

Image source: http://www.ceresproject.org/Sugar.html

Hospitals in England, by 2020, plan to charge increased prices for sugary beverages and snacks that are sold in their cafes and vending machines. A tax of 20% has been suggested by medical groups and health charities but the figure is yet to be decided. This is likely to reduce the levels of consumption of sugar and is a good place to start if the UK is going to do something about the levels of obesity and diabetes, which are both closely tied to sugar intake. I guess hospitals and government health facilities should lead by example and set the precedent to the wider community, but is a tax the right way of doing it?

The article calls for "bold measures" to curb the obesity crisis, which is placing a huge strain on its resources. Stevens' thinking is that “...by 2020, we’ve either got these practices [high sugar consumption] out of hospitals or we’ve got the equipment of a sugar tax on the back of them."

He goes on to say that the measures aren't just for the well-being of the children and adult population in England, but are to ensure the NHS can function sustainably without the burden of sugar related diseases adding pressure.

That increase in price will be expected to reduce the consumption of sugar by its own workers on site and the proceeds of the tax will be ploughed back in to improve the health of the workers, although it doesn't say how exactly they will use the revenue.

This is planned to be implemented in 2020 and Stevens says that a "big bang", overnight approach wouldn't work as the country needs to adjust its palates! So that means that for 4 more years, you can still buy a Coke or some other highly-sugar snack at a hospital.

Some argue that government has no place intervening where sugar is concerned, but Jamie Oliver is calling for significant action, the world over. It seems that science can confirm the link between obesity and sugar, and if that is the case then it has to be a good thing for hospitals (at least) to levy a tax on products with negative externalities, doesn't it?

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