Israel Decides to Revoke the Sweetened Beverage Tax: A Grievous Blow to Public Health

In a letter published in the Lancet, members of the World Federation of Public Health Associations’ Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion and Policy Working Groups and other leading scholars of nutrition policy, health sciences, and economics convey extreme concern over the Israeli Finance Minister’s decision to revoke the sweetened beverage tax.

According to this letter, the decision will undoubtedly harm lives and increase the direct and indirect economic costs to Israel’s health system and economy. This letter calls on the Government of Israel to reconsider and retract this decision and let the revenue from the soda tax be used to improve the health and welfare of all Israeli citizens.