Coalition tasks government to fix health sectors with taxes from carbonated drinks.

A health advocacy coalition, the National Action on Sugar (NASR), has urged the Federal Government to channel revenues realised from taxes on carbonated and sweetened beverages towards addressing challenges in the health sector.

It would be recalled that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday, announced new excise duty on sugar-sweetened beverages at a public presentation of the 2022 budget in Abuja that an excise tax of 10 naira per litre would now be imposed on non-alcoholic, carbonated and sweetened beverages.

Reacting to the new tax, in Abuja, a member of the coalition, Dr. Alhassan Umar, commended the Federal Government for introducing the tax.

She said that NASR would continue to advocate proper utilisation of the funds towards preventing non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancers and others.

According to her, non-communicable diseases account for one in three deaths in Nigeria. She lamented that the diseases are a significant cause of premature death and loss of economic productivity.

Seun Fakorede