Study explores impact of 20% sugary drinks tax
Monday, 31 July, 2023
A -led study suggests that a national 20% sugar-sweetened beverage tax (SSB) could increase health equity of Australians over 10 years.
The study, involving and the , also聽investigated the cost-effectiveness of interventions for oral disease prevention, finding聽that direct healthcare savings could be $42.2 million, with 510,977 decayed teeth and 98.1 disability-adjusted life years聽鈥� a measure of healthy life lost through premature death or disability due to illness or injury聽鈥� averted.
The study further concluded that under a lifetime scenario for the current population, direct healthcare savings from the tax were $122.5 million, with 1,309,211 decayed teeth and 254.9 disability-adjusted life years averted.
Tan Nguyen, an oral health therapist and Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine PhD candidate who worked on the study, said that聽SSB taxes had increased prices and decreased consumption on an international level, claiming similar enforcements in Australia had the potential to be a healthy and cost-effective strategy.
However,聽no such taxes have been implemented and information in relation to oral health prevention is limited.
鈥淭o date, economic evaluations of Australian dental programs are scant,鈥� Nguyen said.
Two major barriers to a sugar-sweetened beverage tax were federal government support and industry pushback, with the ensuing tasks required of convincing these sectors from a 鈥渉ealth equity lens鈥�, according to authors of the study.
鈥淧oor oral health is highly prevalent in the Australian population and impacts mostly on vulnerable people,鈥� Nguyen said. 鈥淭he major contributors impacting quality of life due to oral diseases are tooth decay, advanced gum disease and severe tooth loss caused mostly by caries and gum disease.鈥�
The study was originally published in , and claims the changes could prevent more than 500,000 dental cavities and lead to overall societal cost savings of $176.6 million under a lifetime scenario.
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