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Taxes and Subsidies for Improving Diet and Population Health in Australia: A Cost-Effectiveness Modelling Study

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  • Linda J Cobiac
  • King Tam
  • Lennert Veerman
  • Tony Blakely

Abstract

Background: An increasing number of countries are implementing taxes on unhealthy foods and drinks to address the growing burden of dietary-related disease, but the cost-effectiveness of combining taxes on unhealthy foods and subsidies on healthy foods is not well understood. Methods and Findings: Using a population model of dietary-related diseases and health care costs and food price elasticities, we simulated the effect of taxes on saturated fat, salt, sugar, and sugar-sweetened beverages and a subsidy on fruits and vegetables, over the lifetime of the Australian population. The sizes of the taxes and subsidy were set such that, when combined as a package, there would be a negligible effect on average weekly expenditure on food (

Suggested Citation

  • Linda J Cobiac & King Tam & Lennert Veerman & Tony Blakely, 2017. "Taxes and Subsidies for Improving Diet and Population Health in Australia: A Cost-Effectiveness Modelling Study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-18, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pmed00:1002232
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002232
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    Cited by:

    1. Hamraz Mokri & Ingelin Kvamme & Linda Vries & Matthijs Versteegh & Pieter Baal, 2023. "Future medical and non-medical costs and their impact on the cost-effectiveness of life-prolonging interventions: a comparison of five European countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(5), pages 701-715, July.
    2. Saha, Sanjib & Nordström, Jonas & Scarborough, Peter & Thunström, Linda & Gerdtham, Ulf-G., 2021. "In search of an appropriate mix of taxes and subsidies on nutrients and food: A modelling study of the effectiveness on health-related consumption and mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    3. Anne Magnus & Linda Cobiac & Julie Brimblecombe & Mark Chatfield & Anthony Gunther & Megan Ferguson & Marj Moodie, 2018. "The cost-effectiveness of a 20% price discount on fruit, vegetables, diet drinks and water, trialled in remote Australia to improve Indigenous health," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Liana Jacobi & Nhung Nghiem & Andrés Ramírez‐Hassan & Tony Blakely, 2021. "Food Price Elasticities for Policy Interventions: Estimates from a Virtual Supermarket Experiment in a Multistage Demand Analysis with (Expert) Prior Information," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(319), pages 457-490, December.
    5. Hannah E Carter & Deborah J Schofield & Rupendra Shrestha & Lennert Veerman, 2019. "The productivity gains associated with a junk food tax and their impact on cost-effectiveness," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-11, July.
    6. Thiboonboon, Kittiphong & Lourenco, Richard De Abreu & Cronin, Paula & Khoo, Terence & Goodall, Stephen, 2024. "Economic Evaluations of Obesity-Targeted Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) Taxes–A Review to Identify Methodological Issues," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Doble, Brett & Ang Jia Ler, Felicia & Finkelstein, Eric A., 2020. "The effect of implicit and explicit taxes on the purchasing of ‘high-in-calorie’ products: A randomized controlled trial," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    8. Nina van der Vliet & Anita W.M. Suijkerbuijk & Adriana T. de Blaeij & G. Ardine de Wit & Paul F. van Gils & Brigit A.M. Staatsen & Rob Maas & Johan J. Polder, 2020. "Ranking Preventive Interventions from Different Policy Domains: What Are the Most Cost-Effective Ways to Improve Public Health?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-24, March.
    9. Tony Blakely & Nhung Nghiem & Murat Genc & Anja Mizdrak & Linda Cobiac & Cliona Ni Mhurchu & Boyd Swinburn & Peter Scarborough & Christine Cleghorn, 2020. "Modelling the health impact of food taxes and subsidies with price elasticities: The case for additional scaling of food consumption using the total food expenditure elasticity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Anja Mizdrak & Tony Blakely & Christine L Cleghorn & Linda J Cobiac, 2019. "Potential of active transport to improve health, reduce healthcare costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions: A modelling study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, July.
    11. Mounsey, Sarah & Veerman, Lennert & Jan, Stephen & Thow, Anne Marie, 2020. "The macroeconomic impacts of diet-related fiscal policy for NCD prevention: A systematic review," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    12. Liu, Siyuan & Ohinmaa, Arto & Maximova, Katerina & Veugelers, Paul J., 2023. "The health and economic benefits of sugar taxation and vegetables and fruit subsidy scenarios in Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).

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