Implementing Nigeria’s sugar-sweetened beverage tax to harness domestic resources for health

Published 2022년 8월 24일

Tridge summary

In 2021, the Nigerian government introduced a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax of ₦10 per litre as part of the Finance Act, in an effort to curb sugar consumption and generate revenue for the health sector. This move is part of a broader trend among 54 countries to use SSB taxes as a source of domestic funding for health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries with underfunded health sectors. The PharmAccess Foundation, in collaboration with the World Bank and Nigeria Health Watch, recently held a policy dialogue to assess the implementation progress of the SSB tax and explore strategies for using pro-health taxes to support health financing in Nigeria. The dialogue highlighted the need for increasing the SSB tax to a level that deters consumption, improving the Finance Act to specify how the generated funds will be used, and involving the Ministry of Health in decision-making regarding the allocation of pro-health taxes.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

In 2021, the Federal Government of Nigeria introduced a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax. It is embedded in the Finance Act of 2021, which levies a ₦10 tax on each litre of all non-alcoholic and sugar sweetened carbonated drinks. Fiscal policies like this can help curb the excessive consumption of sugars as was seen in Mexico, which would have a positive benefit on population health, especially in the prevention of non-communicable disease (NCD) like diabetes and chronic kidney disease. There is also the potential benefit of revenue generation, which can be channeled towards financing Nigeria's health sector. While the SSB tax enforcement structure and timeline for implementation is yet to be determined, PharmAccess Foundation, in collaboration with the World Bank and Nigeria Health Watch, recently organised a policy dialogue titled, 'New Health Financing Approaches in Nigeria: Implementation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) Tax in Nigeria' where panelists and attendees from ...

Source: All Africa