Earmarking this revenue, along with that collected from tobacco and alcohol, will help address the current shortfall in funding for NCD prevention programmes.
We recommend, as a pilot programme, that the Government earmarks an initial 5 percent from the collected sin tax revenue to strengthen NCD health promotion and treatment, focusing initially on diabetes and cancer.
A 2016 World Bank study found that homophobia alone was estimated to cost India’s economy up to $32 billion a year, approximately 1.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP).
Such targeted stigma, discrimination and criminalisation inevitably lead to the further marginalisation of an already marginalised community, which is a disaster for public health.
What needs to urgently improve is the availability, affordability and accessibility of new and improved treatments for diseases such as cancer and rare diseases.