WHO launches 2010 World Health Report in Phl

MANILA, Philippines – The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday launched in the Philippines the 2010 “World Health Report,” where it strongly recommended an increase in tobacco and alcohol taxes to raise funds for health insurance.

In a press briefing, WHO country representative Dr. Soe Nyunt-U said universal health insurance is achievable if the people concerned will look for innovative as well as practical and sustainable mechanisms to generate funds for it.

Soe noted that many countries have increased taxes for alcohol and tobacco to boost their health system financing.

“WHO recommends that countries look at various possible sources to improve their finances (for health). In some countries, sin taxes from tobacco have been used to increase the general tax revenues which can be channeled to health,” he added.

Dr. Henk Bekedam, WHO-Western Pacific Region Office director for Health Sector Development, said it would be a “win-win situation” for a country if it could raise tobacco taxes.

“I think we should look at this area of tobacco taxation. If you increase your taxes by 10 percent, normally around four percent of people will start to smoke less. It’s really a win-win situation. More tax revenues, more people will smoke less. So we definitely encourage governments to consider this,” Bekedam said.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona refused to comment on the matter, but Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) president Dr. Rey Aquino agreed that sin taxes could be a good source of funding to achieve universal health coverage.

“It’s two pronged. You increase the tax, you get money, you subsidize health. At the same time you decrease the usage. You discourage them but still that would be their choice,” said Aquino, who is planning to recommend to the Department to Health and Congress to raise more funds for health insurance by increasing tobacco taxes.

“If we can only (impose higher) taxes for hamburger because it can cause trans-fatty acid. The text, those are good source of tax revenues,” he said.

In its report that was focused on “Health Systems Financing,” the WHO said a 50 percent increase in tobacco excise taxes would generate $1.42 billion in additional funds in 22 low-income countries.

WHO said raising the levies on alcohol to 40 percent of the retail price could lead to a 40 percent decline in consumption.

“Even if only a portion of the proceeds were allocated to health, access to services would be greatly enhanced. Some countries are also considering taxes on other harmful products such as sugary drinks and foods high in salt or trans-fats,” the report said.

To raise “sufficient resources for health,” the DOH also recommended increasing the efficiency in revenue collection, reprioritizing government budgets and increasing development aid.

“All countries have scope to raise more money for health domestically, provided governments and the people commit to doing so,” WHO added.

The report provides “practical guidelines” on ways to finance health care as it estimates that from 20 percent to 40 percent of all health spending is “currently wasted through inefficiency.” –Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)