Fund health insurance with carbonated drink’s excise duty – Physician

Public health physician and sustainable development consultant, Dr. Laz Eze, says the funds realised from the excise duty on sugar-sweetened beverages should be channeled towards funding health insurance and achieving the Universal Health Coverage.

Remember that the Federal Government had last Wednesday introduced an excise duty of N10 per litre on all non-alcoholic, carbonated, and sweetened beverages.

The excise duty refers to the taxes levied on the manufacture of goods within the country.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, during the public presentation of the 2022 budget, disclosed the new policy in the Finance Act signed into law by the President Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 2021.

“There’s now an excise duty of N10 per litre imposed on all non-alcoholic and sweetened beverages. And this is to discourage excessive consumption of sugar in beverages which contributes to a number of health conditions including diabetes and obesity. But it is also used to raise excise duties and revenues for health-related and other critical expenditures. This is in line also with the 2022 budget priorities,” Zainab said.

Okwuego/PHW