To strengthen primary healthcare, the World Bank has urged the federal government to impose specific taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and sugar-sweetened drinks.
Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, made the plea on Friday in Abuja during a special National Council on Health meeting hosted by the Federal Ministry of Health.
He said, “If we want to improve healthcare in Nigeria, we need to tax the things that are killing us.
“The economic rationale for taxing these products is strong if we want to save lives and make a better and healthier Nigeria.”
Taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened drinks, according to Chaudhuri, will minimize the health hazards connected with their usage while also freeing up fiscal room for universal health care after COVID-19.
Investing in a stronger health system for everybody, according to the country director, would help to combat increasing poverty and inequality.
He added that health tax increases would have the additional advantage of reducing future healthcare costs by curbing the growth of non-communicable diseases that tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages cause.
Ada Peter
