CAPPA Commends FG’s Health Tax Policy
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has commended the federal government’s decision to develop a draft policy that would earmark revenues from excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) for health financing.
CAPPA described the initiative as a decisive opportunity for the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to leave a legacy of sustainable funding for Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system and to protect the health of Nigerian citizens.
Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele had disclosed, at a recent national health-financing dialogue in Abuja, that the federal government was finalising a draft policy to channel excise-tax revenues from alcohol, tobacco, and sugary drinks into health financing.
According to him, the policy will soon be submitted to the Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
Reacting to the development via a statement by its Media and Communication Officer, Robert Egbe, CAPPA said that both local and World Health Organisation (WHO) reports have shown that Nigeria was reeling from grossly inadequate public health financing and grappling with the double burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), fuelled by the excessive consumption of sugar-laden beverages, salt, tobacco and alcohol by citizens.
“These diseases are responsible for nearly 30 per cent of all deaths in the country, making the situation a public health emergency,”it stated.
CAPPA maintained that by initiating the draft policy, the FG has demonstrated commitment towards tackling the upsurge of NCDs in the country while also urging the government to take comprehensive action by adopting the recommendations of the WHO and CAPPA to make the taxes effective.
“This would involve benchmarking them on rates high enough to reduce consumption, encourage product reformulation, and ultimately ease the country’s health burden,” the body said.
