Working on a Canadian levy on sugary drinks - evidence and challenges

Dr. Warshawski will review the evidence in support of targeting sugary drinks (SDs) as a uniquely problematic food, provide an overview of Canadian consumption patterns and estimates of morbidity, mortality and health care costs linked with SD consumption in Canada, and then discuss the, as of yet, unsuccessful efforts to enact a levy on SDs at both a provincial and federal level. 

Dr. Tom Warshawski is a consultant pediatrician in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. He is the current Chair of the Childhood Obesity Foundation in Canada. As co-chairman of both the National Sugary Drink Reduction Group and of the British Columbia Rethink Sugary Drinks Coalition, he has been active in advocating for sugary drink taxation at both a provincial and national level. 

What happens to consumer purchases and sales after a sugary drink tax?

Dr. Ng will provide evidence across a number of settings and countries on model-based approaches and evaluation studies on how fiscal policies such as sugary drink taxes are influencing consumer purchases and sales, as well as product offering. Additionally Dr. Ng will discuss what policy design issues should be considered given various objectives

Dr. Shu Wen Ng, is a Health Economist from the University of North Carolina, USA. Dr Ng has evaluated how regulatory policies such as taxation, quotes or nutrition labelling may impact consumer purchases, diet and nutritional outcomes, and alleviate or worsen health disparities. 

What is so complex about a sugary drink tax?

Dr. Rutter will present a view that tackling the problem of obesity will require a wide range of actions over many years, including fiscal measures such as taxes on sugar sweetened drinks. He will describe how a complex system perspective can help to maximize the effectiveness of these kinds of interventions, and what it means for interpreting their effects. 

Dr. Harry Rutter  is a public health physician based in Oxford, England, a senior clinical research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and senior strategic adviser to Public Health England. His main professional focus is on the application of complex systems thinking to public health policy formulation, implementation, and research.