Former member for Anglimp-South Waghi, Jamie Maxton-Graham, says he will introduce taxes on popular sodas and junk food while at the same time, subsidise healthy food.
The plans are part of 31 policies which he announced today, which form the basis of his elections campaign for the NCD Regional Seat.
Graham said in Port Moresby today that his policies will promote a healthy lifestyle for Port Moresby as well as Papua New Guinea.
He said soda and junk food contain sugar and highly processed ingredients which contribute to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, as well as cancer currently plaguing the country.
“Processed foods and sugar, these cause inflammation in the body. When we get inflammation, we develop insulin resistance, we become pre-diabetic and we get diabetes,” said the candidate.
“Underneath we get cancer, we get heart disease. It’s one family; lifestyle disease is one family and the underlying cause is sugar.”
Graham says he is standing for the NCD Regional Seat to have a much bigger say in the Health strategy of the country to improve sinking health indicators.
He said the Health Department and the Government have lost touch with realities on the ground and he intends to change that by addressing dwindling infant and maternal mortality rates, and lack of health services in rural areas through a national health strategy.
“The National Government must come up with a strategy and fund it properly,” he said.
Maxtone-Graham said he will improve the town and customary land planning in NCD, and ensure appropriate infrastructure such as roads, public amenities like as power and water, are available.
In education, he said he will introduce a ‘one-child, one-computer’ policy as well as wifi in all school, skills training for youths.
He also promises to support women in business.