Sträuli Bella, Thow Anne Marie, Reeve Erica
The George Institute for Global Health, Level 18, International Towers 3, 300 Barangaroo Avenue, Sydney, New South Wales2000, Australia.
Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Bull World Health Organ. 2025 Jan 1;103(1):43-50. doi: 10.2471/BLT.24.291812. Epub 2024 Nov 6.
Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death and disability globally, with suboptimal diet being a significant risk factor. Fiscal policies that promote nutritious foods have been identified as part of a best-practice package of interventions and are a focus for governments in the current context of rising food prices. Price controls are a strategy that governments commonly apply to limit mark-up on prices of specific foods, with the aim of protecting consumers and promoting food security. To date, which specific foods are being placed under price controls is unclear. This paper aimed to provide an overview of the use of food price controls in 10 Member States of the World Health Organization South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions, which have price controls on specific food commodities. The types of foods and beverages under price controls differed considerably. Many of these foods and beverages (for example, sugar-sweetened beverages and instant noodles) were not aligned with global recommendations for healthy diets and the prevention of noncommunicable diseases. Price controls are being implemented by government agencies for finance or commerce, which are generally separate from the agencies overseeing the prevention of noncommunicable diseases. Therefore, an opportunity exists for policy-makers to strengthen policy coherence of price controls on food and the prevention of diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
非传染性疾病是全球死亡和残疾的主要原因,饮食不合理是一个重要风险因素。促进营养食品的财政政策已被确定为最佳实践干预措施组合的一部分,并且在当前食品价格上涨的背景下成为各国政府关注的焦点。价格管制是政府通常采用的一种策略,旨在限制特定食品的价格涨幅,以保护消费者并促进粮食安全。迄今为止,哪些特定食品正在受到价格管制尚不清楚。本文旨在概述世界卫生组织东南亚和西太平洋区域10个对特定食品实施价格管制的成员国使用食品价格管制的情况。受价格管制的食品和饮料种类差异很大。这些食品和饮料中的许多(例如,含糖饮料和方便面)不符合全球关于健康饮食和预防非传染性疾病的建议。价格管制由财政或商业政府机构实施,这些机构通常与负责监督预防非传染性疾病的机构分开。因此,政策制定者有机会加强食品价格管制与预防饮食相关非传染性疾病政策的一致性。