February 2021

Budget Speech 2021: Treasury just cost South Africa billions here’s why

For interviews, contact: Lawrence Mbalati, head of the Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA) 082 734 5414 lawrence@heala.org 24 February 2021 Treasury’s failure to raise the health promotion levy to 20% has cost the country billions in lost revenue to fight Covid-19 and is a missed opportunity to save lives in the long-term, says health advocacy organisation …

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Media release: Call to the Minister of Finance to increase the sugary drinks tax to 20%

18 February 2021 Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA), Centre for Communication Impact (CCI) and other partners are launching a Mass Media Campaign on the 18th of February 2021 to organise support and raise the public’s awareness about the harms of excessive consumption of unhealthy foods and the most effective policy-related solutions to the problem. The partnership, …

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Media Release: Doubling the sugary beverage levy could raise billions for Covid-19 fight

If South Africa doubled its sugary beverage levy, it could raise billions to help fund the fight against Covid-19. In 2018, South Africa introduced a health promotion levy of about 11% on sugary beverages to help curb the country’s sugar consumption, which is fuelling a rise in non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and …

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Fact Sheet: Evidence to support increasing South Africa’s Health Promotion Levy (HPL) to 20% in 2021

South Africa implemented its Health Promotion Levy, or HPL, in April of 2018. The HPL is a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax of approximately 11%, based on sugar content. Initial research on the price impact of the HPL has shown prices increased commensurate with the tax for taxed beverages but did not change for non-taxable beverages …

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