Health policy experts and government officials on Wednesday in Abuja, converged to discuss control mechanism to aid in the reduction of sugary substances.

According to the stakeholders, the action is needed to reduce the rise in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the country.

They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of a summit organised by Gatefield, in partnership with the National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR) Coalition and the World Bank.

A major stakeholder event aimed at advancing healthcare financing through pro-health taxes.

Dr Salma Anas, Special Adviser to the President on Health, said that NCDs were one of the highest contributors to death in the Nigeria.

Anas said that, though the country was not doing well in terms of health allocation, the priority of the present administration was to ensure that the health needs of Nigerians were catered for.

“A policymaker will not understand the issue of women dying while giving birth in Nigeria because they feel death is a natural thing.

“There is a need for continuous advocacy to share the challenges of health situations with them to improve health outcomes for all Nigerians,” she said.

The Founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF), Dr Zainab Bagudu, recalled that the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB) tax was introduced in the country after much advocacy.

Bagudu said that there were various taxes used to strengthen different sectors in the country.

“So, SSB tax is the right step to generate funds for health system strengthening in the country.

“We expected the SSB tax revenue to be used to fund the health sector, but the funds have yet to be channelled to health.

“We must continue to advocate for SSB taxes to be allocated to the health sector,” she said.

Dr Adamu Umar, President, Nigeria Cancer Society, said that nearly one in three deaths in the country was a result of NCDs.

Umar said that chronic conditions such as cancer and type 2 diabetes were on the rise in the country.

“In 2021, Nigeria became one of the first countries in the region to implement an SSB tax, applying an exercise tax of N10 per litre to carbonated sweetened non-alcoholic beverages.”

“Nigeria’s current SSB tax stands at about 6.7 per cent which is not an effective tax rate.

“The government must tax SSBs at a high rate enough to achieve optimum health impact,” he stressed.

Dr Olumide Okunola, Senior Health Specialist, World Bank Group, described Nigeria as “a rich but poor country”.

Okunola said for any country to be able to provide meaningful services to its citizens, it must be able to raise at least 15 per cent of its GDP, but the country raises less than six per cent.

Prof Felicia Anumah, Director, Center for Diabetes Studies, University of Abuja, said that diabetes was an expensive disease, adding that prevention was the cheapest option to check it.

“People use more than 25 per cent of their income to manage Type 2 diabetes, ” she said.

She said that Since the early 2020s, as life expectancy increased the country began to see an increase in NCD prevalence, adding that there was a need to urgently address this.

Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) said that Pro-health taxes were a win-win for the government.

Oluwafemi said that the government would generate more income when they the consumption of things that can harm population health and promote the health outcome of people simultaneously.

Dr Pamela Ajayi, President of, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), said that the country must subsidise health insurance to ensure that vulnerable people had access to healthcare.

Ajayi said that the country must look at programmes that improved health education and preventative health measures.

Dr Laz Eze, a public health physician, health policy and sustainable development advocate, said that the SSB was not an end but a means towards the end.

According to Eze, this conversation is crucial as it brings to bear why lifestyle modification is critical to preventing diabetes and other NCDs.

He said that it was important to emphasise that the increase in taxation on SSBs was just one step towards achieving the ultimate goal, which is drastic reduction in NCDs .

Ms Omei Bongos-Ikwue, Health Communication Specialist, Gatefield, said that there was a need for SSB tax policies to be designed to align with the primary objectives of the tax.

Bongos-Ikwe said that health taxes could serve to raise revenues to fund healthcare service provision or to shift behaviour and reduce the health harms of SSB consumption.

“SSB tax design must consider the type of tax and the tax rate.

“What considerations do policymakers and health authorities need to make when designing and implementing SSB taxes? What lessons can be learnt from other geographies?” she probed.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria is facing an increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and heart disease.

Majority of Nigerians pay out-of-pocket for health care; however, many patients, especially from low-income groups, cannot afford the rising cost of care.

NCDs like type 2 diabetes are chronic illnesses that usually last a lifetime, meaning that health expenses are recurrent.

Many NCDs are linked to lifestyle risk factors like physical inactivity and poor diets, including the consumption of SSBs.

According to experts, the rise in NCD prevalence is putting pressure on the health system and government spending on healthcare is low due to lack of funds allocated to healthcare.

The current administration has identified revenue generation as one of its key priorities; pro-health policies, such as SSB taxes, have proven to be valuable sources of revenue generation.

SSB taxes are recommended by global experts like WHO and work by raising the price of the product and discouraging consumption while raising revenue.

Nigeria’s SSB tax, which is currently 10 naira per litre, is abysmally low and falls below the regional average.

An increase in the SSB tax can provide increased revenue for the government, which can be used to finance healthcare.

There is a need for policies to ensure adequate healthcare financing and increased health investments that would amount to high returns in the form of better health and economic growth.