In an official letter, published on Thursday 02.02 in the leading medical journal The Lancet, a list of senior researchers and experts in the world in the fields of public health, health economics and nutritional sciences, express deep concern in view of the decision to cancel the tax on sugary drinks
The Minister of Finance's decision to cancel the tax on sugary drinks causes concern and shock among a group of international experts from the World Federation of Public Health Associations, including researchers from the Hebrew University alongside world-renowned researchers in health economics, nutritional sciences and public health.
"This decision seriously harms Israel's international standing and its reputation as a model for sensible, evidence-based policy"
The authors of the article in Lancet
In an official letter, published on Thursday 02.02 in the leading medical journal The Lancet, a list of senior researchers and experts in the world in the fields of public health, health economics and nutritional sciences, express Deep concern in view of the decision to cancel the tax on sugary drinks, and its damage to public health, Israel's international status and the many efforts to improve health around the world. The list of signatories to the letter includes leading Israeli and international names in the field of public health and nutrition, headed by Prof. Aharon Troan from the Faculty of Food and Environmental Agriculture at the Hebrew University and Prof. Hagai Levin, from the School of Public Health of the Hebrew University and Hadassah; Chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians in Israel.
Among the other signatories are Barry Popkin, a world-renowned health economist, Darius Mozfarian, dean of policy affairs at the School of Nutritional Sciences of the American Tufts University, who heads a task force advising the White House on hunger and food security, Amy Yarrow, head of the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition , Martin Kreher from City University London, and the heads of the working groups of the World Federation for Public Health, Ana Paula Bortolto Martin from Brazil, Miguel Ángel Royo Bordonda from Spain, and Ildafonzo Hernández Aguado who previously served as head of public health services at the Spanish Ministry of Health.
The language of the letter:
"As members of the World Federation of Public Health Associations and leading researchers in the fields of nutrition policy, health sciences and economics, we would like to express extreme concern in view of Finance Minister Smotrich's decision to cancel the tax on sugary drinks on his first day in office.
This decision, which was made before consulting the civil service professionals in the ministries of health or finance, and without holding an independent discussion with experts, constitutes a severe blow to public health. It goes against clear guidelines and evidence from international agencies, such as the World Health Organization and the World Bank, as well as research from the Bank of Israel, which proves that the tax has significantly reduced the consumption of sugary drinks."
The experts believe without a shadow of a doubt that the cancellation of the tax will harm human lives and increase the direct and indirect economic costs to the health system and the Israeli economy, both in the short term and in the long term. More broadly, repealing the tax undermines extensive progress made elsewhere around the world. The new policy will be "celebrated" by vested interests who promote their products and ignore the need for a policy that will protect the health and well-being of the public. This decision will be seen as prioritizing sectional political interests over indisputable scientific determinations. The signatories also add that, this decision seriously harms Israel's international standing, in its leadership in the medical, scientific and technological fields. while tattooing our reputation as a model for sensible, science-based policy.
The experts state that "We support our colleagues in the health professions in Israel and the general public in calling on the Israeli government to reconsider and withdraw from this unplanned and hasty decision. Instead, let the revenue from the tax on sugary drinks be used to fight chronic diseases, including obesity, and promote food security by increasing economic access to healthy nutrition, reducing health disparities, improving the health and well-being of all Israeli citizens - and set a positive and not a negative example for global health policy leadership." .
Prof. Aharon Troan, from the Faculty of Food Agriculture and Environment at the Hebrew University adds that: "Israel's solid position in the international community, in the fields of science and health, is based on Israeli leadership in the production and application of groundbreaking knowledge. Our colleagues fear, and rightly so, that the hasty decision, devoid of health or economic logic, sends a harmful message that will sabotage the efforts of the countries of the world to deal with the obesity epidemic. There is still an opportunity to make amends, but if there is no change, this could severely damage Israel's scientific ties."
More of the topic in Hayadan:
4 תגובות
I did not know that the citizens of the State of Israel were a control group in some unknown experiment, or even that the test subjects themselves, so that the cancellation of the tax would "harm scientific research".
But then I read the content of the article and saw that the claim is more complex - under the auspices of the public panic that surrounds the new government, the cancellation of the tax "sends a harmful message", which will later come back to us like a boomerang. Well, I understand. The Indians, for example, will refrain from developing the continuation of the "Barak 8" with Israel because of a populist administrative decision, which (perhaps) concerns public health in Israel. everything is clear.
I wouldn't be required to do so, if it weren't for the feeling that "woke" Lysenkoism surrounds all this narrowing of lines around what is "scientific" and what is not, and it concerns everything: public health (in its various arenas), the legal system, scientific The atmosphere and the hand is tilted.
And about the sugar thing: our culture is saturated with processed, simple and empty carbohydrates. There are many factors for this, and a significant part of this lies in the (original) American food pyramid, in the panic over fat consumption in recent decades, and in the subsidy that the American government gives to the cultivation of grains and the production of sugars to such an extent that the abolition of the tax on sugary drinks is like removing a band-aid from gangrene.
All the international scientists who will take care of their own country first are not guinea pigs for fines and vaccinations.
What kind of tax is there in the USA, Brazil, Spain or England? The drinks there are cheaper even for the Japanese with the tax increase.
Good . So now we know that Prof. Aaron Truan is an expert on public panic among his other specialties
"But if there is no change, this could severely damage Israel's scientific ties"
Let's exaggerate.
This week I learned that sugar breaks down concrete, this could seriously damage the concrete and create more and more sinkholes! Went on us! And I am no longer talking about the old woman who will split in two.
Why exaggerate though? Health, health, but what about relationships and scientific research? It's getting nasty already
There will be no more elitist left than that.