Diabetes in Mexico has risen dramatically in recent years, ranking amongst the highest in the world. So, in order to combat the obesity and diabetes epidemic, the Mexican government implemented a 10% excise tax on SSBs in 2014.

We all may all covet a dream of lower taxes, but a national 10% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in Mexico may work like a cigarette tax to persuade people to curb their bad habit. The tax is projected to have a profound impact on the burden of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality over the next  decade according to a modeling study published in PLOS Medicine. The study, orchestrated by Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California San Francisco, notes that 983 million dollars in healthcare costs may be saved as a consequence of the tax from the prevention of diabetes alone.

Diabetes in Mexico has risen dramatically in recent years, ranking amongst the highest in the world. So, in order to combat the obesity and diabetes epidemic, the Mexican government implemented a 10% excise tax on SSBs in 2014. In much the same way tobacco products are taxed, sweetened soft drinks are facing the same reality.

In this study, the researchers used the Mexican template as an established model of cardiovascular disease in the US, relying on survey data on household consumption in Mexico since the tax implementation to determine health and health-care cost impact over the next 10 years. The researchers discovered  that the 10% tax will likely prevent approximately 189,300 new cases of type 2 diabetes. That’s the equivalent of a small city. Also, there would be a reduction of  20,400 incidents of strokes and heart attacks. Also, there would 18,900 few deaths over 10 years among adults 35-94 years of age, and would also result in approximately one billion million dollars savings in diabetic health care costs. Wow, bring on the tax!

The SSB tax may be an important component in a multifaceted strategy by the Mexican government to curb the obesity and diabetes epidemic in Mexico,” said the study’s author, Dr. Bibbins-Domingo noted: “Mexico’s SSB consumption has increased in recent years such that SSB calories now account for a substantial proportion of overall caloric intake. Our population modeling of cardiovascular disease and diabetes [there] suggests that if Mexico’s SSB tax leads to population-wide reductions in SSB intake…the policy will have a profound impact on disease burden.”