Nigeria currently minefield of non-communicable diseases related deaths ― Expert

“Nigeria is currently a minefield of non-communicable diseases (NCD) related deaths,” Dr. Laz Ude Eze, a public health physician on Wednesday said.

He said at the moment, the country is combating three concurrent health epidemics: communicable diseases (including COVID-19 and cholera), non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and road traffic injuries.

He made the assertion in his text on how policies like the Carbonated Drinks Tax will help Nigeria beat Non-communicable diseases and Boost Economic Productivity a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune.

According to him, many of the documented risk factors associated with NCDs are lifestyle and choice-based.

He explained that behavioral risk factors like excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), inadequate physical activity, tobacco smoking, and high caloric intake were contributory factors.

“None of this has been helped by the urban sedentary lifestyle and diet transition to processed foods and beverages,” he said.

He noted that despite the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) statistics on the number of deaths resulting from NCDs in Nigeria, he said the health crisis is yet to be considered a national priority.

He said: “Millions of Nigerians live with and die from type 2 diabetes mellitus, heart disease, fatty liver disease, tooth decay, gout arthritis, and increased risk of cancers. Besides the loss of lives, several billions of dollars are lost to healthcare and productivity costs.”

Although he noted that at the policy level in Nigeria, several instruments are in place to address the root causes of communicable diseases and road traffic injuries, which have been arguably successful, it is still a work-in-progress for NCD.

He said despite the harsh economic situation and the burden of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, doing nothing about NCDs is not an option.

“Consequently, I am excited that the Federal Government has announced a “pro-health” tax increase on soft drinks in Nigeria in the 2022 budget.

“This tax will enable revenue generation for health programs, especially those targeted at addressing NCDs,” he noted.

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