Professor Karen Hofman explains how a sugary beverage tax could reduce diabetes and obesity in South Africa in her recent lecture at Imperial College London.

As part of a Global Health & Development lecture, Professor Karen Hofman discussed the research evidence that informed the tax on sugary beverages in South Africa, to be promulgated in 2017/2018; and the political economy of potentially introducing such a levy.

A growing body of evidence indicates that excessive sugar consumption is driving epidemics of obesity and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) around the world. South Africa (SA), a major consumer of sugar, is the most obese country in Sub Saharan Africa, and 40% of all deaths in the country are NCD related. Several fiscal, regulatory, and legislative levers could reduce sugar consumption in SA. These low cost instruments are a “Best Buy” and could save lives from obesity related diseases, save health care costs and generate revenue. This talk will focus on a sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) tax first proposed by the SA Treasury in 2016. Professor Hofman presented some of the analysis that informed key SA policymakers, the cost of inaction and discussed lessons learned from other middle income settings.

This event was chaired by Professor Franco Sassi, Professor of International Health Policy and Economics.

Here’s some of our Twitter highlights from Professor Hofman’s lecture…

Day 1 was opened by Francis Ruiz of GHDG and Prof. Karen Hofman of PRICELESS and focused on sharing experiences of the use of evidence in policy making in different country contexts: South Africa, Thailand, China, India, Cambodia and the UK. Participants at the workshop included academics from South Africa, representatives from the South African Department of Health, the WHO, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), plus the country representatives who spoke about their specific contexts. In exploring the ‘HTA journeys’ of different countries, participants learnt about the main drivers for HTA, the factors involved in establishing a framework for HTA informed decision making (e.g. political will, legislation), and what HTA was used for. Netnapis Suchonwanich of HITAP, Thailand, and former Deputy secretary-general at National Health Security Office highlighted for example, that successful structures for incorporating evidence into policy can be established in resource constrained settings where there is a commitment to UHC. Indeed, HTA can be considered an important tool in ensuring the affordability of any universal benefits package devised.

Day 2 focused on a ‘deeper dive’ into the factors that need to be considered when establishing HTA ‘agencies’ with a focus on the ongoing work in establishing iDSI HTA hubs in China, South Africa and India. iDSI hubs are an important mechanism for making iDSI goals, particularly in-country support, more responsive, scale-able and sustainable. These hubs could also serve as centres of regional support. Each of the iDSI HTA hub centres are at different stages of development – it was announced for example at the meeting that the China hub would be launched next month. Damian Walker of BMGF highlighted the importance of taking an in-country focus to hub development, so that the necessary elements can be put in place to allow for effective regional support, as was demonstrated by the experience of Thailand’s HITAP, one of the core partners of iDSI.

Day 3 focused on identifying areas of further collaboration among all the participants represented at the workshop. Areas of cooperation included joint research, placements and study tours.

The full agenda for the workshop can be found here. All the presentations from day 1 and day 2 can be found here.

Please click here to download the Job description.

To apply, please forward your CV and a covering letter to llazarus@icon.co.za 

Closing date for applications is Thursday 30 June 2016