The impact of alcohol pricing policies on public health in Hong Kong, China: A modelling study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Contrary to most developed economies, Hong Kong has reduced and eliminated taxes on beer and wine over the last 15 years and observed increasing alcohol consumption.

Methods

We applied econometric epidemiological modelling to assess the impact of reverting ad valorem taxation to pre-2008 levels (20% on wine and 40% on beer) on consumption and health outcomes. We used 15 years of industry sales and pricing data (2004-2018) to derive 25 own-price and cross-price elasticity estimates. We applied risk functions from the World Health Organization 2018 Global Status Report to assess the impact on 25 alcohol-attributable conditions.

Findings

An estimated 616 deaths (91.3% in men) were attributable to alcohol in 2018. Raising taxes to pre-2008 levels is estimated t

SUBMITTER: Ng CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9250035 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature