This WHO publication presents the key arguments for investing in the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Implementing the best buys will save at least 12 million lives, prevent 28 million cases of heart attacks and strokes, add more than 150 million healthy years of life, and generate USD 1 trillion in economic benefits.
Among the seven areas of the NCD best buys is reducing alcohol use. The best buys for reducing alcohol use include implementing a package of cost-effective and feasible measures as part of national health policy, which includes taxes, advertising bans, and restrictions on availability. If implemented as a package, these measures will generate a return on investment that is nine times the amount invested in each unit of currency (9:1).
Additionally, it argues that if revenues from taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and sugary beverages are allocated to health, government health care spending would increase by 12% globally and 40% in low- and middle-income countries.
Recommended citation:
World Health Organization. (2025). Saving lives, spending less: the global investment case for noncommunicable diseases. Geneva: World Health
Organization.