The Department of Nutrition and Food Safety (NFS) has introduced a new guideline on fiscal policies to encourage healthy diets. This guideline offers countries recommendations on necessary measures to improve the availability of healthy food options, which will promote better health outcomes. These measures include implementing policies that discourage the consumption of unhealthy foods and encourage the consumption of foods that support a healthy diet.
Unhealthy diets pose a significant global public health risk, leading to issues such as unhealthy weight gain, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Governments play a crucial role in reducing the burden of diet-related NCDs and addressing malnutrition while promoting healthy diets.
Fiscal measures such as taxation and subsidies have been recognized as effective policy options for promoting healthy diets. To assist Member States in this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed an evidence-informed guideline on fiscal policies. A virtual launch event will be held to discuss the evidence behind this guideline and encourage stakeholders to take action.
The WHO’s fiscal policies guideline will become available on June 14, 2024 at 13:00 pm CET. For any questions or inquiries related to this topic, please contact us at nfs@who.int
