Healthy Lifestyle: Spotlight on SSB Tax and Industry Monitoring Skills for Journalists 

As part of campaign for a healthy lifestyle, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, in collaboration with the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax Coalition, recently organised a two-day training, themed, ‘Journalism Training on SSB Tax and Industry Monitoring’ in Lagos. Sunday Ehigiator reports

Nigeria’s ranking as the fourth largest global consumer of SSBs portends grave implications for public health.

Availability, affordability, and aggressive advertising have been the three major pulling factors to consumers of SSBs, with little or no idea of its impact on their health, and general well-being over time.

SSBs are beverages that contain added sugars, including sodas, sports drinks, sweet teas, fruit drinks, energy drinks, and some fruit juices. Excessive consumption of SSBs has been linked to a wide range of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and over 12 types of cancers, tooth decay, cavities, gout, and arthritis, among others.

The SSB Tax

To reduce SSBs consumption and promote healthy lifestyles among citizens, the Federal Government introduced an N10/litre Excise Tax on all non-alcoholic, sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages through the 2021 Finance Act.

Experts have argued that one of the most effective tools for reducing obesity rates and other NCDs is the implementation of taxes to increase the final retail price of products containing SSBs by at least 20%, as the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended.

The need for SSB tax stems from the fact that they have little or no nutritional value, but instead, their consumption has contributed to an increase in the global burden of NCDs, contributing significantly to the aforementioned illnesses.

Although the N10/litre Excise Tax on SSBs in Nigeria, falls short of the 20 per cent per litre tax recommended by the WHO, aimed at raising the price of sweetened drinks, thereby discouraging buyers, who would then seek healthier alternatives.

The WHO Guideline on Free Sugar Consumption

The WHO guidelines recommend that to prevent obesity and tooth decay, adults and children reduce their consumption of free sugars to less than 10 per cent of their daily energy intake (equivalent to around 12 teaspoons of table sugar for adults).

The guidelines suggest further reducing the intake of sugars to below 5 per cent of daily energy intake (about six teaspoons of table sugar for adults) for additional health benefits.

Arguments against SSB Tax

Several arguments have been advanced against these SSB taxes, suggesting that they are not effective, are regressive, negatively affect employment and economic growth, and violate international, regional, and national law.

However, concrete evidence from over 40 countries implementing these taxes proves otherwise. The soft drink industry is usually behind such misinformation and is targeted ultimately at either weakening or killing regulation.

They devise different tactics to increase sales, regardless of the health of the uninformed consumers or the amount of money the government spends to manage the prevalence of NCDs. There have been cases when rather than reduce sugar in their products, the producers of such products reduce the bottle sizes of their brands.

It is important to note that consumers have a right to good and healthy products. Public health should be prioritized over profit, industry actors should be compelled to accept the reality, which is that the SSB tax is a way to reduce the burden of NCDs that are fast increasing nationally.

Monitoring the SSB Industry

As discussed at the training, it is not just enough for Journalists to report on SSB Tax, but equally pay attention to the character, activities and body language of the SSB industry whose practices have been said to undermine the purpose of the tax.

The beverage industry has been viewed to have absorbed the additional cost brought about by the SSB Tax, thereby keeping the price of the drinks down at affordable prices for consumers, defeating and undermining the essence of the SSB Tax.

Addressing Journalists at the training, CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said, “Our work as journalists is not only to interrogate these ideas and policies of the government, but also sniff lives out of bad narratives that are making the rounds and causing Nigerians to turn against a policy they should be supporting.

“To achieve this, we have to complement seasoned experts in public health, journalism, and advocacy to lead us through these conversations.”

He, therefore, urged the federal government as a matter of urgent health concern to increase the tax on SSBs without further delay to discourage unsuspecting Nigerians from making unhealthy choices that are gradually leading to the untimely death of many.

The burden of SSB Consumption

Addressing participants on the burden of SSB consumption on public health in the country, a Public Health Professional, Dr Francis Fagbule, listed reasons for the increasing consumption of SSB in Nigeria.

According to him, “availability of the product, affordability, urbanisation, cultural and social norms, the marketing and advertising strategy of SSB industry, as well as the lack of public education and awareness about the health risk are some of the reasons most Nigerians still indulge in the consumption of SSB.”

He, therefore, harped on the need for solution health promotion, the building of healthy public policy, creating a supportive environment, strengthening community actions as well as developing personal skills to curb the adverse intake and effect of SSB.

Healthy Food Policies in Nigeria

Speaking on the topic, ‘Healthy food policies in Nigeria: Legal landscape analysis for SSB’, Senior Regional Adviser, Food Policy Programme, GHAI, Adeolu Adebiyi, disclosed pathways to strengthen SSB.

According to him, these pathways include litigation, creating comprehensive stand-alone legislation like the Tobacco Act, the exercise of administrative power, leveraging on existing NAFDAC regulations with express provisions on modalities, and legislative pathways among others.

 Verdict

It would be recalled that, although implementation of the SSB was delayed till June 2022, the federal government through the Finance Act 2021, imposed an N10/litre excise duty on sugar-sweetened beverages to primarily discourage the overconsumption of sugary drinks.

Therefore, the verdict of participants at the training was that the federal government should increase the tax on SSB to meet the WHO recommendation, as the present N10/litre imposed tax has not achieved the desired objective of discouraging and reducing its consumption.

Also present at the training as resource persons, to equip the journalists with relevant skills on how best to report SSB-related stories, were notable media owners, Director, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Dayo Aiyetan and Publisher, The Cable, Simon Kolawole.

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Availability of the product, affordability, urbanisation, cultural and social norms, the marketing and advertising strategy of SSB industry, as well as the lack of public education and awareness about the health risk are some of the reasons most Nigerians still indulge in the consumption of SSB