The health effects
Ector Ramirez Barbasecretary of the Health Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, assured that healthy taxes can be one of the health interventions with the greatest cost-benefit.
He recognized that increasing the tax on tobacco products and sugary drinks aligns with international recommendations and could reduce the burden of diseases associated with their consumption.
(Photo: Cristián Arriaga/Expansión)
The problem, he considered, is that the Executive does not seem to have a clear objective of what it will do with those resources, since until now it has avoided committing to labeling them for health programs.
During the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he assured, nearly 1 billion pesos were collected in Special Taxes on Products and Services (IEPS), but this money was not reflected in improvements to the health system, which has seen its public budget reduced, going from an expense equivalent to 2.8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2.5%, when the international recommendation is 6%.
Without adequate prevention programs, without efficient medical services and universal coverage, it is impossible to control chronic diseases, he maintained.
We have a really negative health system for you to take care of yourself. “It is a problem, but the health system is broken,”
Éctor Ramírez Barba, PAN federal deputy.
The director of the CIEP agreed. He pointed out that the health sector is a priority in the speech, but not in public spending. For this reason, he stressed, the increase in taxes must be accompanied by other health policies.
“As a country we should have health as a priority and that has not happened. We have been lax in the health system for six years. All of this has an impact on health, which is not a priority,” said Macías.
The deputy also warned of some flaws in the proposal. For example, it leaves out taxes on alcoholic beverages, which are also associated with the development of several diseases, including some types of cancer, while considering taxing products with non-caloric sweeteners, which it considers a controversial measure.
Of these sweeteners, he maintained, there is not enough evidence to show that they are not safe for health. It is known, he noted, that they do not have an effect on the control of overweight and obesity.
