By John Ikani
The World Bank has reiterated calls on the Nigerian Government to impose special taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and sugar-sweetened beverages to improve the country’s primary healthcare system.
World Bank Group Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri made the call in the nation’s capital Abuja at a special National Council on Health Meeting organized by the Federal Ministry of Health on Friday.
“If we want to improve healthcare in Nigeria, we need to tax the things that are killing us,” he said.
“The economic rationale for taxing these products is strong if we want to save lives and make a better and healthier Nigeria.”
According to Chaudhuri, taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages would reduce the health risks associated with their consumption and expand fiscal space for universal health coverage post-Covid-19.
He added that health tax increases would have the additional advantage of reducing future healthcare costs by curbing the growth of the non-communicable diseases that tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages cause.
It is worthwhile to note that the funding and improvement of the health sector in Nigeria is very critical and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the level of rot and severe weakness in the sector.
The funding of primary healthcare is a very important determinant of economic development as a healthy population means higher productivity, thus higher income per head.
