Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development, Ghana (VAST Ghana) has called on the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health to implement bold excise tax reforms to protect public health, following the release of new World Health Organization (WHO) reports on alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverage taxation.

In a press statement issued on January 21, 2026, VAST Ghana welcomed the WHO’s Global Report on the Use of Alcohol Taxes 2025, Global Report on the Use of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes 2025 and the Cigarette Tax Scorecard.

The organization said the reports provide strong evidence for strengthening excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol, sugar-sweetened beverages and other health-harming products to reduce consumption, support non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and secure sustainable domestic financing for healthcare.

According to VAST Ghana, the WHO reports show that poorly designed and low excise taxes have allowed harmful products to remain affordable, shifting long-term health and economic costs onto households and public health systems.

The group noted that alcohol has become more affordable in many countries since 2022 due to tax systems that fail to keep pace with inflation and income growth.

VAST Ghana said Ghana should regularly adjust excise taxes for inflation and income growth to maintain their public health impact and protect the real value of tax revenues.

The group also urged government to earmark revenues from health taxes for healthcare financing and NCD prevention, citing examples from countries that have successfully used such approaches to expand health coverage and strengthen accountability.

The organization said strengthening excise taxes aligns with Ghana’s current review of the Excise Tax Amendment Act, as well as global commitments such as the WHO’s “3 by 35” initiative and the Political Declaration of the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health.

VAST Ghana urged government to resist industry pressure aimed at weakening health tax reforms, stressing that strong excise taxes reduce avoidable illness and death while supporting long-term economic and health system resilience.