Scientists at Otago University released a study showing that the best way to induce a rise in the public's health and a drop in the costs is to increase taxes on alcohol and fatty food while shifting to cheaper alternative in the field of heart medications.

The report was published on Wednesday under the name of "Assessing Cost Effectiveness in Prevention" in Melbourne.

Tony Blakely, one of the Professors at Otago University, who led the study, stated that it is the Government's responsibility to apply some procedures that would use the information found in this research. For instance, the research showed that increasing the price on the fatty food was more effective than launching a campaign in a university discussing the harms of the fatty food. As a result, the benefit would be that of the public, as the country would be enjoying a healthier diet and consequently better overall health conditions.

He said, "A particular focus of our work will be to look at how to best spend health dollars to improve Maori health and the health of the poorest New Zealanders, and how to balance the competing priorities of efficiency and equity".

He also stressed the importance of the remove GST from healthy foods, adding that this should be the Government's next step.