Carbonated drinks, popularly known as soft drinks, are certain to cost much more hence. Government says it is about to raise taxes on the brands.
The Federal Government says it is committed to attain the global best practice of nearly 20 per cent taxation on the final retail price on all sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs).
Federal Ministry of Health director/head of public health Dr. Chukwuma Anyaike stated this in Abuja at the “Pro-Health, Tax Policy Campaign on Sugar Sweetened Beverages.”
According to Anyaike, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) remain the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Assembly has endorsed a package of 16 evidence-based interventions focusing on addressing NCD risk factors.
These, he said, include tobacco, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet.
“One of the interventions is the use of taxes on products that have a negative public health impact with the explicit goal of reducing consumption of such products.
“These taxes are considered to have the potential to reduce NCDs while advancing health equity. To achieve that, this campaign aligns with other government efforts in improving the public health of the Nigerian populace to meet with the global priority of significantly reducing NCDs.
“Excess consumption of SSBs has become a significant public health concern and a threat to the future generation as its consumption is high among children and adolescents,” Anyaike said.
WHO’s advice
He explained further that numerous studies had linked high consumption of SSB to an increased risk of tooth decay and cavities, weight gain, obesity, Type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and other NCDs.
“The WHO advises that limiting the intake of sugar-containing drinks can help individuals maintain healthy weight and healthy dietary pattern (WHO 2020).
“Nigeria is a low- and meddle-income country where more than 70 per cent of the populace pay for health expenditure out of pocket and a part of the countries with 77 per cent of the global 41 million deaths caused by NCDs.
“This has been established by WHO and duly captured in Nigeria’s road map to eliminating the scourge of NCDs as contained in the multisectoral action plan (NMSAP) for ending NCDs.
On his part, Mr Edozie Chukwuma, member of the National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR) NGO, organisers of the campaign, says the campaign aims to get government to increase the tax of SSBs.
Increase tax to deter consumption
“Currently Nigerian government collects N10 tax per litre which was instituted via the finance act. However, WHO recommends at least 20 per cent tax. To ensure that this taxation is passed to the consumers to discourage consumption and forcing people to choose alternatives — basically water and fruits.”
Chukwuma therefore urged government to protect Nigerians by increasing the tax on each litre of SSBs and the channel revenue from sugary drinks into funding of healthcare.
A sufferer of the Type-2 diabetes at the campaign, Mr Peter Agada, advised Nigerians to reduce or totally eliminate the consumption of SSBs, sayng, “we are what we eat.”
“I have suffered this disease for 26 years now, it is not a palatable story to tell. In our society that nearly everything we eat has carbohydrates base, we should stay clear of SSBs: one out of 17 persons in Nigeria is a sufferer,” Agada says.