Stakeholders on Monday called on the Federal Government to empower diabetes patients in order for them to stay healthy.
Also, they called on the government to further increase the tax on the sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) to at least N30 per litre.
They spoke in Abuja at a press conference organized by the National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR) to mark this year’s World Diabetes Day.
In her address, the Dean, Medical and Clinical College, University of Abuja, Professor Felicia Anumah, said it is pertinent for the government to support the diabetes’ patients, adding that the disease ‘is not cheap to manage’.
Anumah, who noted that some of the patients could not afford to take care of themselves, called for the subsidy on their medications.
She, however, called on all Nigerians to go for an early diagnosis to know their status, adding that prevention is the most advisable way of treating the disease.
Also speaking, the Programme Coordinator, Project Pink One, Gloria Chineye Okwu, called for the increment of the SSB tax from N10 to N30 per litre, arguing that the hike in price would discourage the consumption of the sugar sweetened beverages and non-alcoholic drinks in the country.
She called on the government to channel the revenue generated from the SSB tax to the provision of health care to serve some Nigerians living with the disease.
