National Action on Sugar Reduction Coalition (NASR) has called on the Federal government to prioritize the urgent need to raise the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax from the extant 10% to 20%.
President Muhammadu Buhari signed the SSB tax (an excise duty of N10 per liter) into law as part of the 2021 Finance Act to be implemented in 2022.
The coalition said with over 11 million affected Nigerians who spend over $4.5b out-of-pocket to treat the disease annually, the situation can no longer be left unattended to by the government because of the impact on the economic well-being of Nigerians.
The coalition which includes the Diabetes Association of Nigeria, the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, the Nigeria Cancer Society, GHAI’s Prevent Epidemics partner, and the Nigeria Health Watch Foundation among several others, organized a photo exhibition to celebrate individuals and groups that have broken grounds and also spread awareness of the disease in Abuja on Monday in commemoration of this year’s World Diabetes Day, themed ‘Know your risk, know your response’.
According to the President of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria, Mohammed Alkali, an increased SSB tax will not only boost government revenue but will most likely lead to a drop in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages like soft drinks, packet juices, and energy drinks that increase risks of type 2 diabetes.
More importantly, the utilization of the Sugary drink tax by the federal government is a source of concern because the main reason (diabetes) behind the tax has been excluded from benefitting from it.
He said the National Assembly has an important role to play by defining the scope of the utilization of the fund generated with emphasis on Diabetes to avoid its misapplication.
He said: “The purpose of the tax is two-fold. One, it is hoped that with the tax, the cost will increase and it will discourage people from consuming and that is our target number one because we want to make the population healthier.
“Secondly, the increased tax will raise some revenue for the government but that’s where we have slight issues with the government, the fact that these taxes have been collected, but the government has not defined the utilization, it is just added as part of the general increase of revenue in the country.
“What we are saying is that this money generated as part of the effort to control the NCDs, a significant part of it, probably at least 60% of it should be dedicated to diabetes, one increase public enlightenment about the risk factors and how to prevent the contraction of the NCDs and then to dedicate a part of it to enroll some Nigerians that have NCDs on the health insurance scheme.
“And then three, some of it should be applied towards subsidizing drugs for the management of NCDs with a focus on diabetes”.
He said the burden of managing the disease on the patient and the National economy is enormous which makes it expedient for the government to be proactive about it.
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According to him, complicated diabetes can affect any organ in the body which translates to added cost to treating diabetes because the other organs that were affected by diabetes must also be treated.
He said the loss of over $4.2b by diabetic patients yearly to manage the incurable disease should be of concern to the government as it is a major source of deepening poverty in the country.
Alkali urged Nigerians to be attentive to their health and make efforts to arm themselves from contracting the disease with increased physical activity through avoiding sedentary life; healthy diets, that is reduction in refined carbohydrates, sugars, and fast food that will increase the blood sugar level and also lead to obesity; cessation of smoking; and moderate or minimum alcohol ingestion.