The Ministries of Health of the five states of Nigeria’s south-eastern region advocated Thursday in Enugu for a 20 percent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).
They stated in a statement issued at the end of a day-long regional “sweetened beverage stakeholder forum” that the taxes would reduce Nigerians’ high consumption of sugar.
The forum was organized by Corporate Responsibility and Public Participation Africaan NGO with the support of a development partner, the Global Health Advocacy Incubator.
Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa is a pan-African organization dedicated to working with African communities to create alliances for collective social action to promote and defend people’s rights.
Challenges the abuse of natural resources, the environment, and people through corporate and state policies and practices.
Similarly, the Global Health Advocacy Incubator provides strategic support to advocates working to enact and implement life-saving laws.
Support civil society organizations that advocate for public health policies that reduce death and disease.
Rising from the forum, the ministries hailed the Nigerian government’s decision to impose an excise duty of N10 per liter on sugary drinks.
However, they noted that the N10 excise duty did not amount to the WHO recommended 20 per cent of the final retail price of SSB products.
“The government should increase taxes on sugary drinks to achieve a 20 percent increase in the final retail price of specific sugary drinks as recommended by the WHO,” the statement said.
Increase in the population of obese people
The forum noted that sugary drinks offered no nutritional value, but constituted a huge economic and public health burden for the country.
High levels of sugar consumption have increased the population of obese people and also the incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, kidney problems and other non-communicable diseases, the forum noted.
It recommended sustained collaboration of governments at the state and federal levels to raise public awareness of the health risks of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages and the benefits of sugar-sweetened beverage tax policy.
It also recommended that traditional and educational institutions, civil society organizations, the media, and health care providers, among others, actively participate in the campaign against sugary drinks.
“They should be at the forefront of correcting industry misinformation about the SSB tax, and local communities should not be left out of these processes.
“The Federal Government should work in collaboration with state governments to expand tax coverage to include sugary drinks that are not currently taxed.
“There is a need for national legislation to advocate for a pro-health tax and the need for the government to ensure that healthier alternatives to sugary drinks are affordable and readily available.
“The Federal Government should encourage the Ministry of Agriculture to support farmers and the fresh fruit industry to grow more fruits and produce healthy drinks as a replacement for unhealthy drinks.
“It should also encourage parents to prioritize what their wards are consuming, and in particular the benefits of consuming products that do not contain too much sugar,” the statement read.
(YAYA)
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