Tax the healthy rich to cure the sick poor

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7497.0-a

BMJ 2005;330 (23 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7497.0-a

Tax the healthy rich to cure the sick poor

Drug spending should be shifted from the worried well in developedcountries to those with treatable disease in poorer nations,says Heath (p 954). One way to do it, she argues, would be tointroduce additional taxes on preventive drugs and use the moneyto fund treatments in poor countries. She also points out that70% of the UK population are taking drugs to prevent diseaseor enhance wellbeing and asks how this level of drug takingcan be appropriate in a population that, by all objective measures,is healthier than ever before.