Petaling Jaya: The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy has once again urged the government to remove all sugar subsidies, as well as sugar’s removal from the list of controlled items under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011, reports Free Malaysia Today.
Galen’s chief executive, Azrul Khalib pointed out that sugar subsidies were supposed to end more than a decade ago, but still remain in place. According to him, the subsidies cancel out revenue generated from the sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tax.
“Every year, RM500 million is spent on sugar subsidies, wiping out the RM300 million collected from the SSB tax. These subsidies weaken the health ministry’s campaign against sugar,” he said.
Azrul warned that the availability of cheap sugar is fueling the rise of diabetes in the country, along with other serious illnesses such as kidney and heart disease, leading to premature deaths. “This is costing billions of ringgit and thousands of lives each year,” he said.
He also urged the government to abolish the RM1 and RM5 fees currently charged for outpatient and specialist care at public health facilities. “People should not be asked to pay when seeking care. These fees also create the false impression that government healthcare is cheap, which misleads the public,” he said.
