Senator Urges Sugar Tax Funds Be Used for Healthcare

(Senate. Photo by Premuim Times)

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Secondary and Tertiary Services, Senator Ipalibo Banigo, has urged the Federal Government to direct revenue generated from the proposed Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, SSB, Tax toward primary healthcare and disease screening programmes.

Banigo made the appeal in Abuja on Thursday while receiving members of a coalition of over 80 civil society and professional groups advocating for the passage of the SSB Tax Bill.

The coalition visited the Senate to commend her efforts in advancing the bill and to seek her continued support in securing its passage through the House of Representatives.

The senator argued that proceeds from the tax should be specifically earmarked for tackling the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, NCDs, rather than being absorbed into general government revenue.

She insisted that a portion of the funds must be ring-fenced for health promotion, primary healthcare, preventive care and cancer screening, stressing that this is the only way Nigerians would recognise the tax’s impact and support it.

Banigo, a medical doctor and former Deputy Governor of Rivers State, said conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and obesity are placing growing strain on Nigeria’s healthcare system and household finances, noting that when people fall ill and develop complications, the wider economy suffers, making prevention a more cost-effective approach than treatment.

She commended the coalition for presenting evidence-based data in support of the bill and for engaging stakeholders during the Senate’s public hearing, assuring the group of continued backing from the National Assembly and pledging that the Senate would sustain its push to see the bill signed into law.

Earlier, the delegation’s leader and Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the visit was meant to acknowledge Banigo’s role in championing the bill, appealing to her to also help persuade her counterparts in the House of Representatives to pass it.

The SSB Tax Bill seeks to impose levies on sugary drinks to curb excessive consumption while generating funds to support healthcare interventions, amid rising cases of diabetes, hypertension and other non-communicable diseases across Nigeria.