{"id":46957,"date":"2025-07-04T20:17:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T14:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=46957"},"modified":"2025-07-25T10:56:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T05:26:50","slug":"who-3-by-35-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-07-2025\/who-3-by-35-initiative","title":{"rendered":"WHO\u2019s \u201c3 by 35\u201d Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>World Health Organization (WHO) <\/strong>has launched the<strong> \u201c3 by 35\u201d Initiative<\/strong>, calling on countries globally to <strong>increase taxes<\/strong> on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The initiative urges a minimum 50% real price increase on the <strong>three targeted products by 2035<\/strong>, achieved through higher excise or health taxes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The world faces an urgent challenge of <strong>non-communicable diseases (NCDs)<\/strong> such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes now account for <strong>over 75% of global deaths.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Simultaneously, shrinking development aid and rising public debt have strained health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Studies suggest a <strong>one-time 50% price hike could prevent up to 50 million premature deaths<\/strong> over the next 50 years and raise USD 1 trillion in public revenue over the next decade.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From 2012 to 2022, nearly 1<strong>40 countries raised tobacco taxes<\/strong>, with real prices rising over 50% on average, demonstrating that large-scale change is possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is a Health Tax?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A health tax is a levy imposed on products that have a negative impact on public health\u2014primarily tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks. The dual purpose is to:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reduce consumption of these harmful products.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Generate revenue for public health, education, and social protection programs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Objectives and Expected Impacts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reduce NCD Burden:<\/strong> Lower consumption of unhealthy products to prevent millions of premature deaths.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In Columbia, cigarette tax hike led to a<strong> 34% drop in consumption.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mobilize Revenue:<\/strong> Generate an additional US$ 1 trillion globally over the next decade.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthen Health Systems: <\/strong>Fund universal health coverage, prevention, and health infrastructure.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SDG 3:<\/strong> Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages, with targets to reduce NCD mortality by one-third by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges and Considerations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Industry Opposition:<\/strong> Strong lobbying by tobacco and beverage industries; policy delays and dilution.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regressive Tax Concerns:<\/strong> Risk of disproportionate impact on low-income groups unless paired with subsidies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Revenue Volatility:<\/strong> Declining consumption may affect long-term revenue stability.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tax Exemptions:<\/strong> Long-term industry agreements can restrict tax increases and weaken public health.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>\u201c3 by 35\u201d <\/strong>Initiative signals a paradigm shift\u2014placing health taxes at the center of both public health and sustainable development strategies. For countries, the path forward involves:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Designing robust, broad-based health taxes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoiding industry-driven tax exemptions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using revenues to fund health, education, and social protection, especially for vulnerable groups.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Building cross-sectoral alliances and engaging civil society for sustained impact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: BS<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched the \u201c3 by 35\u201d Initiative, calling on countries globally to increase taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>About<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The world faces an urgent challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes now account for over 75% of global deaths.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Simultaneously, shrinking development aid and rising public debt have strained health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Studies suggest a one-time 50% price hike could prevent up to 50 million premature deaths over the next 50 years and raise USD 1 trillion in public revenue over the next decade.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">From 2012 to 2022, nearly 140 countries raised tobacco taxes, with real prices rising over 50% on average, demonstrating that large-scale change is possible.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-07-2025\/who-3-by-35-initiative\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46957"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49135,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46957\/revisions\/49135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}