KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad has announced a new sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax as part of the government’s efforts to combat non-communicable diseases in Malaysia.

According to English daily The Star the proposed tax, set to be introduced in Budget 2025, follows the success of a previous 10 sen increase, which saw the SSB rise to 50 sen per litre in Budget 2024. According to Dzulkefly, this tax has already led to a 9.25 per cent reduction in sugary drink consumption nationwide.

"From this statistic, we see that the SSB has been effective at cutting down sugar consumption among the public,” he was quoted saying.

Speaking after the 20th anniversary celebration of the Health Ministry’s training institute in Sungai Buloh earlier today, he expressed hopes that the new tax would further encourage both restaurants and the public to reduce their sugar usage.

The ministry is also considering the introduction of a nutri-grade system for food and drinks.

This system will rate products from A to D, based on their sugar content.

"A grade products contain no sugar or artificial sweeteners, while B grade will contain small amounts of sugar or sweeteners,” he was reported saying.

Dzulkefly cited the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2023, which revealed that 15.6 per cent of adults, or nearly 3.6 million people, are diabetic.

The report also highlighted that over half a million Malaysians suffer from four major non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity.