OBJECTIVES: Higher-than-recommended sugar consumption (< 10% of total energy intake; WHO) leads to negative health impacts and the development of serious diseases. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) proved to be among the leading sources of free sugar intake, as they contain large amounts of added sugar. Our article aims to propose tax measures that will help change consumer behaviour and reduce SSBs consumption. METHODS: For a comparison of the forms of taxation, the experience of seven countries (Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Catalonia - Spain, and the UK) were analysed. The evolution of sugar consumption, consumption of sweetened drinks and obesity before and after the introduction and/or abolition of the sugar tax were reviewed. RESULTS: States that implemented a tax on SSBs were able to reduce SSBs consumption in the first year after the tax was introduced when states with a sugar-content-based tax have implemented it more effectively than states with a volume-based tax. Based on this finding, we propose basic design assumptions for the tax that can be used in European countries that have not yet introduced the tax. Progressive taxation divides beverages into 3 bands. The basic assumption is to encourage the desired consumer behaviour, i.e., consumption of SSBs with lower sugar content. The proposed tax design is applied to the conditions of the Czech Republic as a model case study. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study suggest that SSBs taxation could be an effective policy intervention to improve population health by reducing the health impacts of SSBs among children and adolescents, although further studies are needed to prove the causality of the described associations.
- MeSH
- Sugar-Sweetened Beverages * economics MeSH
- Taxes * MeSH
- European Union * MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Obesity prevention & control MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Europe MeSH
- MeSH
- Diet economics MeSH
- Long-Term Care economics organization & administration MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Insurance, Long-Term Care MeSH
- Social Security * history organization & administration legislation & jurisprudence MeSH
- Insurance, Health, Reimbursement * economics classification statistics & numerical data legislation & jurisprudence MeSH
- Legislation as Topic MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- MeSH
- Fee-for-Service Plans * legislation & jurisprudence MeSH
- Publication type
- Legislation MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
OBJECTIVES: To report healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and safety outcomes in systemic light chain (AL) amyloidosis from the EMN23 study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrospective, observational, multinational EMN23 study included 4,480 patients initiating first-line treatment for AL amyloidosis in 2004-2018 and assessed, among other objectives, HCRU and safety outcomes. HCRU included hospitalizations, examinations, and dialysis; safety included serious adverse events (SAEs) and adverse events of special interest (AESIs). Data were descriptively analyzed by select prognostic factors (e.g., cardiac staging by Mayo2004/European) for 2004-2010 and 2011-2018. A cost-of-illness analysis was conducted for the UK and Spain. RESULTS: HCRU/safety and dialysis data were extracted for 674 and 774 patients, respectively. Of patients with assessed cardiac stage (2004-2010: 159; 2011-2018: 387), 67.9% and 61.0% had ≥ 1 hospitalization, 56.0% and 51.4% had ≥ 1 SAE, and 31.4% and 28.9% had ≥ 1 AESI across all cardiac stages in 2004-2010 and 2011-2018, respectively. The per-patient-per-year length of hospitalization increased with disease severity (cardiac stage). Of patients with dialysis data (2004-2010: 176; 2011-2018: 453), 23.9% and 14.8% had ≥ 1 dialysis session across all cardiac stages in 2004-2010 and 2011-2018, respectively. The annual cost-of-illness was estimated at €40,961,066 and €31,904,386 for the UK and Spain, respectively; dialysis accounted for ∼28% (UK) and ∼35% (Spain) of the total AL amyloidosis costs. CONCLUSIONS: EMN23 showed that the burden of AL amyloidosis is substantial, highlighting the need for early disease diagnosis and effective treatments targeting the underlying pathology.
- MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Health Care Costs statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Cost of Illness * MeSH
- Patient Acceptance of Health Care statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Immunoglobulin Light-chain Amyloidosis * therapy economics MeSH
- Retrospective Studies MeSH
- Aged, 80 and over MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Health Resources statistics & numerical data economics MeSH
- Check Tag
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged, 80 and over MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Multicenter Study MeSH
- Observational Study MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Europe MeSH
