SynthesisHealth policy and planning2021
Sin taxes and their effect on consumption, revenue generation and health improvement: a systematic literature review in Latin America.
Synthesis in Health policy and planning, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of sugar taxation policies in Asia and Africa: a systematic review.Frontiers in oral health · 2025Pooled it
- The relationship between the price and demand of alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and gambling: an umbrella review of systematic reviews.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Economic evaluation of population-level dementia prevention strategies in China: informing policy and public health action.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Securing Somalia's health: leveraging sin tax revenues to drive universal health coverage and financial protection for lifesaving care in Somalia's health system-scoping review.Health economics review · 2026Review
- [Disease, social, and economic burden of smoking in Brazil and the impact of tax increases on the economy and on the reduction of morbidity and mortality].Cadernos de saude publica · 2026Article
- Facilitators and barriers of implementing sin-tax policies: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Taxing mechanisms on salty foods: investigation of effectiveness through price elasticity and cross price elasticity of demand.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- A legal battle between Ecuadorian citizens and corporate power.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Affordability of sugar-sweetened beverages and nonessential energy-dense foods after taxation, Mexico, 2010-2022.Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health · 2025Article
- Access to hypertension services and health-seeking experiences in rural Coastal Kenya: A qualitative study.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Navigating Nepal's health financing system: A road to universal health coverage amid epidemiological and demographic transitions.PloS one · 2025Article
- Unlocking the power of tobacco taxation to mitigate the social costs of smoking in Mexico: a microsimulation model.Health policy and planning · 2024Article
- Exploring the sugar-sweetened beverage tax (SSBT) pass-through rate in the Irish hospitality sector.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Article
- The implications of policy modeling assumptions for the projected impact of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation on body weight and type 2 diabetes in Germany.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Can sugar taxes be used for financing surgical systems in Nigeria? A mixed-methods political economy analysis.Health policy and planning · 2024Article
- Tying health taxes to health promotion is popular and effective in Thailand.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Article
- The need for taxation to reduce tobacco affordability in Pakistan.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2023Article
- Structural responses to the obesity epidemic in Latin America: what are the next steps for food and physical activity policies?Lancet regional health. Americas · 2023Review
- Mandatory health insurance for the informal sector in Tanzania-has it worked anywhere!Frontiers in health services · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sin or public health taxes are excise taxes imposed on the consumption of potentially harmful goods for health [sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), tobacco, alcohol, among others], aiming to reduce consumption, raise additional revenue and/or improve population health. This paper assesses the extent to which sin taxes (a) can reduce consumption of potentially harmful goods, (b) raise revenue for national health systems and (c) contribute to population health in Latin America. A systematic literature review was conducted on peer-reviewed and grey literature; endpoints included: impact of raising sin taxes on consumption, ability to raise revenue for health and the possibility of population health improvements. Risk of bias for each study was assessed. The synthesis of the literature on sin tax implementation showed improvements in all three endpoints across the study countries. Following the introduction of sin taxes or by simulating their potential impact, nearly all studies explicitly reported that consumption of potentially harmful goods (mainly SSBs and tobacco) declined; revenue was found to have increased in almost all countries, suggesting that there may be additional scope for further tax increase. Simulated improvements in population health have also been shown, by demonstrating a relationship between sin tax increases and reduction in prevalence of diabetes, stroke, heart attacks and associated deaths. However, sin tax effects on health would be better quantified over the long-term. Data quality and availability challenges did place some limitations on sin tax impact assessment. Sin taxes can be effective in reducing consumption of potentially harmful goods, improve population health and generate additional revenue. Promoting further research on this topic should be a priority.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.