Health Minister John Boyce (r) alongside Prof. Trevor Hassell, chairman of the National NCD Commission at the Consultation on Healthy Foods for Barbadians.
Minister advised to raise sugar tax
The ten per cent sugar tax may rise to 20 per cent in the near future.
Minister of Health John Boyce’s comments came during a speech he gave at the Consultation on Healthy Foods for Barbadians that was held at the Hilton Resort yesterday morning. Boyce highlighted that in 2015, a ten per cent sugar tax was introduced and revealed that he was advised to increase the tax to 20 per cent as it would be more beneficial in helping to reduce the demands for sugar-sweetened beverages.
He also revealed that earlier this year, a legislation for the introduction of picture-based warnings to be placed on tobacco packages and regulations on the use of the e-cigarette in public places and sale to minors was passed in Parliament as a way to help reduce the level of NCDs.
Boyce said that while we were making progress in the battle against NCDs, there was still much that needed to be done. He divulged that based on the “Health of the Nation” study that was carried out in 2015, there was good and bad news on the NCD risk factor front, as the study revealed that virtually no one was risk factor free.
“This is an alarming picture of our nation. Every Barbadian must be greatly concerned and be prepared to take serious action,” he said.
The Minister expressed that as a nation, the society cannot continue on the path that it is currently going down and hope to avoid the obvious negative outcomes. Acknowledging the coined phrase by the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development, “the health of the region is the wealth of the region”, Boyce said that our health is considered to be a valuable resource that is necessary for the achievement of all other goals that are set in life.
Boyce went on to say that one of the areas that was of great concern to him was the health of the children and what was available to them on a daily basis in schools and other environments.
He explained that they were considering banning the sale and promotion of sugar-sweetened beverages on the premises of schools and revealed that the Ministry of Health is already working with the Ministry of Education to implement aspects of the “Barbados Childhood Obesity Plan”, and will continue to strengthen their relationship as they work together.