Precious Nwonu, Enugu
The National Health Insurance Authority and the Senate have called for stronger health tax policies as part of efforts to generate sustainable domestic funding for healthcare and reduce the rising burden of non-communicable diseases in Nigeria.
The call was made at a national stakeholder co-creation workshop on health taxes and sustainable health financing held in Abuja.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, said successful health tax reform would require coordinated action by government agencies, lawmakers, the private sector, civil society organisations, the media and other stakeholders.
Ohiri said Nigeria was facing the dual challenge of infectious diseases and maternal health concerns while also dealing with an increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases linked to the consumption of products such as tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages.
He said health taxes could help address both challenges by discouraging the consumption of harmful products while generating additional domestic resources for healthcare.
“Health-tax reform is not the mandate of any single sector or ministry. It has to involve the leadership of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, the private sector, civil society, the media and all stakeholders,” Ohiri said.
He said Nigeria needed predictable domestic funding to strengthen its health system and expand access to essential healthcare services.
Ohiri disclosed that the Senate had passed a bill seeking to reform the existing tax framework for sugar-sweetened beverages, with the legislation awaiting concurrence by the House of Representatives.
He said the proposed reforms were intended to strengthen the existing SSB tax framework and channel part of the proceeds towards health promotion, disease prevention and primary healthcare.
Nigeria currently has an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, introduced in 2021 at N10 per litre. The World Health Organisation identifies taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks as measures that can discourage harmful consumption while generating revenue for public services and health interventions.
The NHIA boss, however, said passing legislation would not be enough, stressing that effective implementation would require appropriate policy, legal, fiscal and administrative arrangements.
He called for clear mechanisms to ensure transparency in the collection and utilisation of revenue generated through health taxes.
Ohiri cited the Philippines as an example of a country that had used health taxes to support the expansion of health insurance coverage, saying Nigeria could draw lessons from similar approaches.
“Healthcare should be accessible, but it is not cheap. We need to build a workable roadmap so that this does not remain theoretical,” he said.
Health Taxes Beyond Revenue
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ipalibo Banigo, said health taxes should not be treated simply as another source of government revenue.
She described them as public health measures that could help discourage the consumption of products associated with disease while generating funds that could be invested in healthcare.
Banigo stressed the importance of establishing a transparent system for allocating the revenue, particularly to programmes targeting vulnerable populations.
She said Nigerians should be able to see how funds generated through health taxes were being used to support health promotion, disease prevention and access to healthcare.
WHO Seeks Evidence-Based Reform
The World Health Organisation Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Pavel Ursu, said scientific evidence alone would not guarantee the adoption or successful implementation of health tax reforms.
Ursu said policymakers must also understand Nigeria’s political environment, institutional structures and the interests of groups capable of influencing the reform process.
He called for the involvement of the Ministries of Health and Finance, lawmakers, civil society organisations, the media, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in designing and implementing the reforms.
He also urged researchers to produce evidence that responds to policymakers’ needs and reflects Nigeria’s specific circumstances.
The Executive Director of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, Dr Kumanan Rasanathan, said the organisation supports health policy research and reform initiatives in 16 countries.
Rasanathan expressed hope that the workshop would help stakeholders move beyond developing policies and strategies to implementing practical health tax reforms.
He said stronger collaboration between researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders would be necessary to ensure that research findings translate into effective policy decisions.
Stakeholders Seek Public Understanding
The Chief Executive Officer of the International Society for Media in Public Health and Chair of Nigeria Universal Health Coverage, Chief Moji Makanjuola, said effective public communication would be critical to the success of health tax reforms.
She said Nigerians needed to understand why the taxes were being introduced, the health problems they were designed to address, how the revenue would be spent and how the use of the funds would be monitored.
Makanjuola said transparency and public accountability would be important in building confidence in the reforms.
The WHO says health taxes can reduce the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages while mobilising additional revenue that can support health priorities, including universal health coverage.
The workshop was organised in collaboration with Development Governance International Consult, the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation, the WHO and other partners.
Organisers said the meeting was intended to move discussions on health taxes from assessment to joint planning and implementation, while defining responsibilities for stakeholders and developing mechanisms for linking health tax revenue to healthcare financing, disease prevention and expanded health insurance coverage.
The NHIA has said more than 23 million Nigerians are currently enrolled in the national health insurance system, reflecting ongoing efforts to expand financial protection and access to healthcare.
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