SSB Tax: CAPPA encourage journalists to advocate for less sugar intake

A Non-Governmental Organization, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, has encouraged journalists across Nigeria to help save lives by becoming advocates for reduction of sugar intakes in the country.

CAPPA said that Nigeria was currently facing an alarming rise in non-communicable diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity due to the consumption of Sugar Sweetened Beverages, SSB.

In a two days training organized Enugu for journalists in the south east, the organization refuted many advertisments on such beverages, stating that the promotion that such foods give energy and vitality is false and that human bodies don't require excess energy they promote.

It cited instances of pregnant women whose consumption of such beverages had caused hypertension and other complicated diseases.

The Executive Director of CAPPA, Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, said that the training was not just about reporting taxes on the beverages, but about equipping Journalists with tools to tell the story of a growing public health crisis.

He said that the public needs stories that centre on the live experiences of ordinary Nigerians whose health are being sacrificed on the altar of sugary profits, adding that the health of over 200 million Nigerians must take precedence over the bottom line of a handful of beverage companies.

“These diseases, once considered rare, are now commonplace, cutting across income levels and age groups. Our hospitals are overflowing with patients; our families are burdened with healthcare costs, and our productivity is shrinking. Non communicable diseases currently account for about 30 per cent of all deaths annually in Nigeria, ” he said.

Oluwafemi regretted that there was an aggressive sugary drinks industry that manufactures and profits from these unhealthy diets, while it deploys misinformation campaigns and lobbying to delay or block life-saving policies and interventions such as the SSB tax.

He described the SSB tax as a public health policy that imposes a levy on sugary drinks to discourage excessive consumption, reduce sugar-related diseases, and generate revenue for health promotion.

“In Nigeria, this tax was introduced in 2021 at ₦10 per litre of any sugar-sweetened, non-alcoholic beverage, and carbonated drinks. From the outset, Nigeria’s current ₦10 per litre SSB tax, while well-intentioned, is and has always been ineffective, ” he said.

According to him, research has shown that an increase of the SSB tax to at least ₦130 per litre is the effective threshold on sugary drinks for Nigeria.

”Research has also shown that taxing sugary drinks at meaningful levels saves lives. WHO has repeatedly advised that an SSB tax that causes at least a 20 per cent increase in the retail prices of sugary drinks lead to a proportional reduction in consumption, ” he said.

He said the WHO recently urged Nigeria to raise prices of sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50 per cent through taxation to curb rising non-communicable diseases.

Oluwafemi said that WHO had expressed confidence that health taxes were one of the most efficient tools to cut the consumption of harmful products.