Health and Wellness Minister Dr Chris Tufton says the new tax to be imposed on sugary drinks will not be a burden to any section of society if there is a conscious decision to consume fewer sugar-sweetened beverages.

The goal, he said, is to foster a culture of moderation, improve health outcomes, and reduce disease burden without alienating industry stakeholders.

Tufton made the argument in a release on Friday, pointing out that for years before the announcement of the tax by Finance Minister Fayval Williams on Thursday, he had been pushing for a decrease in the sugar content of soft drinks.

He said that a decrease in the consumption of sugary drinks will lead to healthier families and a healthier nation.

“It will also lead to a decrease in diabetes and obesity,” he said Friday after a meeting with unit heads at his ministry.

Tufton recalled that in his 2018/19 sectoral debate presentation he announced that effective January 2019 Government would implement a policy to restrict certain types of sugary drinks in schools and public health institutions.

“By sugary drinks we mean beverages that contain sugar added by the manufacturer. It does not include 100 juice or unsweetened milk,” Tufton said at the time, adding that it was part of the response to the obesity crisis.

TUFTON… a decrease in the consumption of sugary drinks will lead to healthier families and a healthier nation (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

Outside of the tax announced by Williams, which is projected to raise $10.1 billion in the 2026/27 fiscal year, Government and health officials have long warned about a possible public health crisis because of the nation’s high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Recent ministry statistics said the country was ranked number 10 globally in the consumption of sugary drinks. Approximately 70 to 86 per cent of children and 77 per cent of adults consume one or more sugary drinks daily, which health officials say have pushed up the rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

On Friday, Tufton said there is now an urgent need for Jamaica to address the high consumption of sugary drinks and their impact on public health, especially among the low socio-economic groups.

The conversation, he suggested, should be balanced, non-hostile, and encourage industry reformulation.

The levy, part of the Ministry Paper on Revenue Measures for 2026/2027, proposes special consumption tax (SCT) of $0.02 per millilitre on non-alcoholic sweetened beverages. The measure is expected to take effect in the first quarter of the new financial year.

In its release on Friday, the health ministry pointed to PwC Jamaica’s analysis of the tax measures.

“There is no question as to the effects of an unhealthy diet on the Jamaican population. To the extent that the measures seek to drive a change in consumption behaviour, consideration could be given to applying a lower SCT rate on beverages below a certain sugar content (or excluding unsweetened beverages) and applying a higher rate to those above the threshold. This would incentivise manufacturers and importers to decrease manufacture/importation of beverages with a higher sugar content, while still raising revenue,” the audit and consultancy firm said.

The measure, however, has not found favour with Wisynco Group Chairman William Mahfood, who warned that it could fall hardest on Jamaica’s poorest households while doing little to meaningfully reduce consumption or improve public health.

In an apparent counter to that position, the health ministry highlighted a paper prepared for it by Dr Simone Spence, director of the Health Promotion and Protection Branch, who pointed out that Jamaica faces a high burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including overweight/obesity and diabetes, especially among young people because of the high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

In the paper, Dr Spence stated that sugar-sweetened beverages are a major source of free sugars, and their affordability and heavy consumption contribute to unhealthy diets and long-term disease risk.

“Current prevention efforts need stronger population-level interventions to shift consumption patterns,” she said.

Dr Spence pointed out that jurisdictions which have implemented taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages have seen a decline in consumption. These include: Mexico (2014), United Kingdom (2018), South Africa (2018), Barbados (2015), and Chile (2014; revised 2016).

Meanwhile, Tufton has voiced support for the suggestion of a lower tax rate of low sugary drinks, while urging manufacturers to consider reformulation of products like what has been done in other countries where taxes have been imposed on sugary drinks.

In a January 2016 report, the World Health Organization said sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages are getting cheaper due to consistently low tax rates in some countries, fuelling obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and injuries, especially in children and young adults.

The 2016/2017 Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey revealed that one in every eight Jamaicans, 15 years and older, had diabetes. At the same time, some 92.5 per cent of Jamaicans 15 years and older with the disease are on treatment, but only 27.5 per cent are controlled.