Call for Proposals: Realizing Health Taxes – Co-Producing Knowledge and Strategies to Implement Health Taxes (2026)
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research is inviting proposals for applied policy and political economy research to accelerate the implementation and expansion of health taxes.
This call aims to fund up to three country teams to conduct real-time policy analysis and strategy co-production that directly supports national-level health tax reform. The focus is not academic theory alone, but actionable insights embedded within ongoing national policy processes.
Health taxes on tobacco, alcohol and other harmful products are recognized as among the most effective public health interventions. However, despite strong global evidence, implementation remains limited due to political, economic and institutional barriers.
This initiative seeks to bridge that gap by supporting country-led teams to:
• Diagnose implementation barriers
• Co-design operational strategies with policymakers and stakeholders
• Apply those strategies in real time
• Document lessons learned to inform global practice
Projects will run for nine months during 2026.
Objectives of the Call
The funded projects must:
- Assess Barriers
Conduct deep political and policy analysis to identify the specific institutional, economic and social barriers limiting health tax implementation or expansion. - Co-Design Strategies
Develop context-specific, operational strategies in collaboration with ministries of finance, health authorities, researchers and civil society. - Apply and Learn
Implement the strategy during the project period and document outcomes, progress and lessons learned.
The approach requires close engagement with ministries of finance and other relevant authorities.
Country Eligibility
Only teams based in the following countries are eligible:
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Kenya
Nigeria
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Viet Nam
Teams must be based in one of the above countries.
Organisation and Team Eligibility
To be eligible:
• The Principal Investigator must be a policymaker currently involved in health tax implementation or policy in their country (for example, Ministry of Health or Ministry of Finance).
• The team must be multidisciplinary, including researchers in health policy, economics or political economy.
• The team must include civil society representation.
• The core team must be gender-balanced, with at least 50 percent women.
Government ministries themselves cannot apply alone without forming the required multidisciplinary consortium.
Project Requirements
Selected country teams must:
• Facilitate stakeholder engagement, particularly with Ministries of Finance and civil society
• Conduct an inception workshop
• Participate in cross-country learning exchanges
• Produce three core analytical outputs:
- Barrier diagnosis report (approx. 10 pages)
- Operational strategy document (approx. 10 pages)
- Final implementation and learning report (approx. 10 pages)
- Contribute to a global synthesis paper
Funding Details
Number of awards: Up to three
Maximum funding per project: USD 90,000
Project duration: Nine months (March to December 2026)
Overheads: Must not exceed 7 percent of the activity budget
Eligible costs include personnel, data collection and analysis, stakeholder workshops, meetings and dissemination products.
Selection Criteria
Proposals will be assessed on:
• Degree of integration within the national policy process
• Strength of collaboration between health and finance sectors
• Engagement with civil society
• Methodological rigour
• Feasibility within nine months
• Value for money
Key Dates
Call published: 3 March 2026
Submission deadline: 26 March 2026 at 23:59 CET
Project period: March to December 2026
Late submissions will not be considered.
Submission Process
Proposals must be submitted through the Alliance’s online submission portal. Email submissions will not be accepted.
Full proposal length must not exceed seven pages, excluding biographies and budget.
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