The National Action on Sugar Reduction Coalition (NASR) has urged the federal government to tax sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) amid the rising cases of diabetes, cancer and other related ailments in the country.
The coalition made the call yesterday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by Gatefield and NASR.
The coalition noted that sweetened beverage taxes were a means of preventing the consumption of SSBs, stressing that prevention was a cheaper option.
Speaking at the event, the coalition’s Co-Chair and President of the Nigerian Cancer Society (MCS), Dr Adamu Alhassan Umar, said SSB consumption was a modifiable risk factor for non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, cancers and heart diseases.
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He said, “It is, therefore, pertinent to have proactive measures in place to curtail the harmful effects of these products. Revenue from SSB taxes can be channeled into the care and treatment of non-communicable diseases.”
Also, the coalition’s Co-Chair and Secretary General of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN), Comrade Bernard Enyia, said the government should have a system to care for patients with lifelong diseases like diabetes.
