Nigerians spend over $1.26 billion yearly, treating cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancer and diabetes, which are responsible for nearly 30 per cent of all deaths yearly in the country.
This was disclosed by Healthy Food Policy Youth Vanguard (HFPYV) in a statement signed by Mr Afeez Adebayo, yesterday. It noted that NCDs caused huge financial burden on households from out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare expenditure and productivity loss from hospitalisation.
HFPYV, a volunteer group of young Nigerians, who advocate food justice and public health, contended that the latest data from the National Health Accounts showed that, on the average, a Nigerian household with NCDs spent the equivalent of $398.52 per year on NCD care; while in general, Nigerians spent the equivalent of about $1.26 billion yearly treating NCDs, plunging many families into financial difficulties.
“These are particularly worrying data because, according to Worldometer, about 70 per cent of the Nigerian population is under 30 years old, while 42 per cent are under 15. This makes us one of the countries with the largest youth populations in the world, whose youthful energy should be an asset in our quest for national development rather than a market for corporations to exploit for profits at the expense of people’s lives,” the group noted.
According to the group, the situation points to the need for urgent measures by the government, including the Ministry of Youth Development, to protect youths.It said one preventive measure was the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) Tax introduced by the Federal Government to address the health issues arising from excessive consumption of sugary drinks.
HFPYV urged the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, to support stakeholders’ call for the Federal Government to raise the tax on SSBs from N10 per litre to N130 per litre, in the interest of public health.
According to HFPYV sugary drinks and ultra-processed food industry are targeting Nigeria’s teeming youth population with unhealthy food products backed by misleading advertising that manipulates them into forming harmful dietary habits, to boost the industry’s profits.
“We are calling the attention of the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, to a disturbing trend of food corporations relentlessly targeting young Nigerians with unhealthy, Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and ultra-processed foods that are generally high in sodium and sugar, the excessive consumption of which erodes health,” the statement reads.
