About the Project
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease are major global health challenges. Many governments are implementing policies to address these risk factors, such as car-free days and increased taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar. Effective health tax policies require tailored approaches that consider national political, economic, and social contexts.
In 2021, supported by the Government of Norway and in collaboration with WHO and the Inter-Agency Working Group on Health Taxes, the Alliance launched a research program to analyze health tax policies in eight low- and middle-income countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and Vietnam. This research examined how political economy factors influence health tax policies.
EPIC Health Systems, in partnership with the University of Gondar, conducted a study on recent tax reforms in Ethiopia that increased tobacco and alcohol prices. The study, published in BMJ Global Health as “Framing, Moral Foundations, and Health Taxes: Interpretive Analysis of Ethiopia’s Tobacco Excise Tax Policy Passage,” analyzed the policy-making process and provided recommendations for future health policy analysis in similar contexts.
