The National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR), a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that include the Diabetes Association of Nigeria and eleven others, has called on the Federal Government to implement a sugar-sweetened beverages tax (SSB Tax).

The Coalition noted that the SSB tax, which was introduced in the Finance Act and signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 2021, is meant to tackle the health risks of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages.

According to a statement by the Coalition’s representative Omei Bongos-Ikwue in Abuja, the call was an aftermath of the government’s failure to meet its June 1, 2022, takeoff of the Sugar Tax Regulation.

The statement noted that the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning was supposed to announce the framework for the enforcement and the timeline for the implementation of the sugar tax that was introduced late last year.

Read Also: Fed Govt to eliminate multiple taxes in transport sector

The General Secretary of the Nigerian Diabetes Association and co-chair of the coalition Comrade Bernard Enyia said: “The backlash from the soda industry is slowing down the implementation of the tax. People think that the sugar tax is trying to impoverish them and add to inflation.”

As a person living with disabilities himself, the General Secretary explained that the tax is meant to ease the suffering of people living with diabetes. He further explained that enlightening people on the importance of the tax and how it will be used as a health policy tool for the treatment of non-communicable diseases will help in changing their minds about supporting the tax.

The coalition also praised the swift action of the Nigeria Customs Service for taking initiative towards enforcing the tax by reaching out to the beverage industries to begin the implementation of the SSB Tax.

The statement added that Zacks Onwe of TalkHealth Nigeria urged the coalition to activate community stakeholders to call out the government for refusing to implement the tax.

In a statement, the Executive Director of the Nigerian Heart Foundation Dr Kingsley Akinroye said: “In view of the gap in the implementation of the SSB tax passed in the 2021 Finance Act, I am calling on stakeholders, including civil society organisations, to work with the government to enforce the implementation of the tax.”