By Perpetua Onuegbu
A Coalition of health organisations have demanded for a 20 per cent increase in tax for Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSB) and to direct all revenue generated to curb Non Communicale Diseases (NCDs).
This position is made known by Edozie Chukwuma, Senior Associate, Planning Advocacy and Engagements in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, the health groups made the demand through a technical position paper presented to the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform committee during the Gatefield Health Summit on Wednesday.
The theme for f the summit is “Taxing Sugary Drinks and other Fiscal Policies for Healthcare taxing sugary drinks.” The Gatefield Health Summit was organised by leading advocacy group Gatefield Impact in collaboration with the World Bank.
He said the coalition consists of more than fifteen Nigerian health organisations including the Nigeria Cancer Society, Diabetes Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Medical Association, Nutrition Society of Nigeria under the umbrella of the National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR).
Chukwuma said the coalition demanded immediate actions by the Nigerian government to further increase the sugar-sweetened beverage tax (SSB tax) and direct all revenue gained from such tax to curb Nigeria’s non-communicable diseases crisis.
Speaking at the summit, the President of the Nigerian Cancer Society, Dr Alhassan Umar, explained that Nigeria had a health emergency as a result of overconsumption of sugary drinks.
“11.2 million Nigerians or 1 in 17 adults are living with type 2 diabetes and more than 1 in 5 Nigerians are overweight and have abdominal obesity, which is an often overlooked diabetes risk factor.
“Between 2007 and 2021, Nigeria recorded a growth in per-capita soft drink sales from 9 ml to 14ml.
“The direct and indirect costs of obesity, type 2 diabetes and other NCDs are staggering. Beyond the prohibitive costs of treatment for individuals, NCDs have a broader economic effect, including a decline in economic productivity.
“Attributed to the reduced ability of people suffering from these diseases to work. The national direct cost of diabetes to Nigeria is estimated at USD 3.5 to USD 4.5 billion per annum or around NGN300,000 per patient,” Umar said.
Umar further said the burden of treating diabetes was more than Nigeria’s entire health budget.
On the health implications of SSBs and it’s importance on fiscal policy measures to safeguard public health, the Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr Salma Anas said President Bola Tinubu said he would increase the budget for health.
“This administration’s priority in regards to health are: Health Financing. The President has said he is going to increase allocation for health, starting with ten percent of our budget for health.
“Diabetes and Cancer treatment is very expensive, Many Nigerians cannot afford this and this tax will help reduce that. That is why we need officials from finance and internal revenue services to have this discussion with us,” Ana’s said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria introduced the 10 naira per liter sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax in December 2021 through the 2021 Finance Act, and started collecting the taxes in June 2022.
NAN also reports that signatories to the National Action on Sugar Reduction Coalition Partners include Nigeria Medical Association, Nigeria Cancer Society, Diabetes Association of Nigeria
and Nigeria Health Watch.
Others are Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Project Pink Blue, TalkHealth9ja, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and Pharm Access Foundation among others.
The Gatefield Health Summit was organised by leading advocacy group Gatefield Impact in collaboration with the World Bank.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng).