Skip to main content

NHS plans to tax sugar in hospitals

By Anonymous
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.

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?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Steps to an Excellent Economics Essay

By Anonymous
We all know that essay structure is important. It's been said that a good essay is like a sandwich... you need an introduction, main body and a conclusion. This is rather vague advice, and so here are some pointers that should help you to construct an excellent economics essay. This post is designed to support questions that require all the assessment objectives tested. These types of questions tend to feature command terms like 'discuss', 'to what extent' or 'evaluate'... Image source The 5 step process This process is not perfect but does provide a framework to help you construct your essay. Feel free to use whatever elements you believe will add to your performance... 1 - Annotate the question Simply underline the command terms, highlight the parts which you need to respond to and the key terms etc. This will ensure you understand the question, helps you to focus and reduces the likelihood that you'll go off topic. 2 - Plan  I would...
7 comments
Read more

Contestable Markets: A Classroom Analogy

By Anonymous
In our recent mock exams, some Year 13 students were confused about the concept of contestable markets. Many defined them as simply being a market with high levels of competition. They often went on to correctly explain the benefits to consumers, as a contestable market does have a similar impact on the behaviour of incumbents (firms already in the market). Contestable markets, in contrast to 'competitive' markets, are where the presence of potential entrants acts as a competitive constraint on the incumbent firms, even if these potential entrants do not actually enter the market. In this context, the concept of contestability is used to capture the degree of competition in a market, with fully contestable markets having zero barriers to entry and exit and the ability of firms to enter and exit the market quickly and easily.  I mentioned this common error to my fellow economist, Mr O'Hagan and he shared with me a brilliant analogy he uses to explain contestable markets: Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Get ahead this summer - Read

By Anonymous
The summer provides AS students the perfect opportunity to set themselves apart from other students and to get ahead, making their life that little bit easier for the A2 year. This might be in terms of being prepared for the A2 course but also for the all important university applications process, and the subsequent interviews... One excellent way students will set themselves apart is through reading. Universities say they want to see applicants reading relevant books that show they have an interest in the subject they wish to study. Imagine applying to do an economics degree having not read any books! It is not just about reading anything, it is about what you have read. So, to help you we have tried to provide you with some reading at various levels that should enable you to choose the appropriate books for you this summer. Don't forget, being up to date in terms of news and opinion is also critical so make sure you check out the further reading recommended in...
Post a Comment
Read more