The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on the federal government to introduce the 20 per cent increase in final price of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB) as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This, it said, was part of efforts to curtail the use and impact of sugar consumption among Nigerians.
Studies showed that about 39 per cent of all deaths are related to Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), because of unhealthy lifestyles including diet (excessive consumption of sugar), and sedentary lifestyle (lack of physical activity).
The federal government launched the Nigeria’s multi-sectoral action plan 2019-2025 for the prevention of NCDs, which has a policy document that listed the major cause of NCD as the consumption of sugar. The Finance Act 2021, however, imposes a tax of N10 per litre on non-alcoholic and carbonated SSB.
The executive director, CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, at a webinar, organised by CAPPA, with participants drawn from civil society, community based organisations, health advocacy groups, professional bodies, and the media, among others, said the N10/litre tax is a far cry from the minimum 20 per cent increase in final price of SSB as recommended WHO as an effective way of combating NCDs in Nigeria.
Oluwafemi, however, stated that, there is the need to ensure that the price of SSB is increased to 20 per cent, institutionalised, sustained, reviewed upwardly, and earmarked for the health sector.
A public health consultant with the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Dr Francis Fagbule, while making his presentation on the Public Challenges of Nigeria’s huge NCD burden lamented the astronomical rise in Nigeria’s disease burden which puts the increase in prevalence at 150 per cent.
Fagbunle expressed the need for more evidence generation to drive home the message of harms done by the consumption of SSB in Nigeria, while urging Nigerians to strive to know their health status.
The CSOs must continue to raise awareness and advocate for pro-health laws in the country, he urged.
Speaking on the need for a sustainable approach to combating NCDs, Nigerian coordinator for the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), Joy Amafah, stated that, there is a need for deliberate policy change through data-driven advocacy, legal framework, and industry monitoring to discourage the industry and their allies from setting policy agenda for the country on public health.
Executive director of Christian Initiative for Nation Building (CIBN) and executive secretary, Osun State Health Insurance Services, Dr Adeniyi Oginni, reiterated the need for the tax to be increased and properly earmarked for health interventions.
CAPPA, however, launched a coalition for policy advocacy on SSB Tax.
The coalition agreed on the need to have a sustained conversation to push for the policy changes required to achieve the set goal of ensuring a drastic reduction of NCDs in Nigeria.
