How can corporate taxes contribute to sub-Saharan Africa's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? A case study of Vodafone.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate emergency threaten progress in reaching many of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets by 2030. The under-5 mortality and maternal mortality rates are well below the targets, and if we progress at the current pace, there is a high risk of not meeting the 2030 goals. Furthermore, the initial progress in the decline in child and maternal mortality since 1990 is likely to be eroded. Much of this progress has resulted from increased sanitation, drinking water, education, and health service coverage. The adequate provision of public services is possible if there is sufficient government funding. When governments have more income, they spend more on public services, which increases access to fundamental economic and social rights and, thus, contributes to the SDGs. One of the key drivers of government financing, taxation, constitutes 70% of government revenue in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Corporate income tax constitutes 18.8% of tax revenue in African countries compared to 10% of tax revenue in OECD countries. Therefore, it plays a critical role in SDG progress. This paper aims to quantify the contribution of one large taxpayer, that publishes their tax payments, (Vodafone Group Plc) on progress towards SDGs in six African countries. We use econometric modelling to estimate the impact of an increase in government revenue equivalent to Vodafone's average tax paid between 2007-2017. RESULTS: We find that government revenue equivalent to Vodafone's taxes made a significant contribution to progress in attaining selected SDGs. We found that the revenue equivalent to Vodafone's taxes allowed 966,188 people to access clean water and 1,371,972 people to access basic sanitation each year. Over the time period studied, 858,054 children spent an extra year in school and 54,275 children under five years and 3,655 mothers survived. In just one of these countries, Tanzania, the revenue equivalent to Vodafone's tax contribution allowed 174,121 people to access clean water and 223,586 to access sanitation each year. Over the time studied 187,023 children spent an additional year at school, 6,569 additional children under five and 625 additional mothers survived. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that the reported contributions from a single multinational corporation drive SDG progress. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of transparent taxes and explores the responsibilities of global institutions, governments, investors, and multinational corporations.

An analysis of tax abuse, debt, and climate change risk in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

INTRODUCTION: Climate change is exacerbating a pre-existing child rights crisis. Lower- (low- and lower-middle-) income countries have borne 99% of the disease burden from the crisis, of which children under five carry 90%. In response, much of the recent global policy efforts focus on climate action. However, unsustainable levels of debt and tax abuses are draining countries of crucial revenue to handle the crisis. Like the climate crisis, these are primarily facilitated by entities domiciled within higher- (upper-middle- and high-) income countries. This paper aims to review these revenue leaks in countries where children are at the greatest risk of climate change to identify opportunities to increase climate change resilience. METHODS: We compiled data on tax abuse, debt service and climate risk for all lower-income countries with available data to highlight the need for intervention at the global level. We used the Climate Change Risk Index (CCRI), developed by UNICEF. Additionally, we used figures for tax abuse and debt service as a percentage of government revenue. RESULTS: We present data on 62 lower-income countries with data on revenue losses, of which 55 have CCRI data. Forty-two of these 62 countries (67.7%) are at high risk of lost government revenues. Forty-one (74.5%) of the 55 countries with CCRI data are at high risk of climate change. Thirty-one countries with data on both (56.4%) are at high risk of both climate change and revenue losses. Most countries at high risk of both are located in sub-Saharan Africa. This shows that countries most in need of resources lose money to arguably preventable leaks in government revenue. DISCUSSION: Higher-income countries and global actors can adopt policies and practices to ensure that they do not contribute to human rights abuses in other countries. Highlighting the impact of a failing global economic model on children's economic and social rights and one which increases their vulnerability to the climate emergency could help drive the transition towards a model that prioritises human rights and the environment on which we all depend.

The keys to control a COVID-19 outbreak in a haemodialysis unit.

BACKGROUND: The high rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spreading represents a challenge to haemodialysis (HD) units. While fast isolation of suspected cases plays an essential role to avoid disease outbreaks, significant rates of asymptomatic cases have recently been described. After detecting an outbreak in one of our HD clinics, wide SARS-CoV-2 screening and segregation of confirmed cases were performed. METHODS: The entire clinic population, 192 patients, underwent testing for SARS-CoV-2 detection by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction . We used univariate and multivariate logistic regression to define variables involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection in our dialysis unit. Later, we analysed differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive patients. RESULTS: In total, 22 symptomatic and 14 of the 170 asymptomatic patients had a SARS-CoV-2-positive result. Living in a nursing home/homeless [odds ratio (OR) 3.54; P = 0.026], having been admitted to the reference hospital within the previous 2 weeks (OR 5.19; P = 0.002) and sharing health-care transportation with future symptomatic (OR 3.33; P = 0.013) and asymptomatic (OR 4.73; P = 0.002) positive patients were independent risk factors for a positive test. Nine positive patients (25.7%) remained asymptomatic after a 3-week follow-up. We found no significant differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive patients. CONCLUSIONS: Detection of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive patients is probably one of the key points to controlling an outbreak in an HD unit. Sharing health-care transportation to the dialysis unit, living in a nursing home and having been admitted to the reference hospital within the previous 2 weeks, are major risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection.