According to a new study by National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR), Nigerians spend an estimated $4.5 billion on diabetes treatment alone each year.

Dr. Laz Ude Eze, Technical Advisor for the National Action on Sugar Reduction, stated this at a webinar for journalists, emphasizing that Nigeria is the world’s fourth-largest soft drink consumer.

In Nigeria, he claims, approximately 38 million gallons of soft drink are sold each year.

He urged the Federal Ministry of Health to start a public treatment program for sugar-related disorders including type 2 diabetes while ensuring that sugar-sweetened beverages include an obligatory warning label

The NASR Coalition therefore recommended the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages as such will relieve burdensome healthcare costs and provide revenue toward health promotion.

According to him; “The Federal Ministry of Health should initiate a public awareness and education campaign on the health risks associated with excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, the cost of diabetes care and the management of other NCDs.

“The introduction to a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages as part of a multi-pronged approach to tackle the rising rates of NCDs.

“The Coalition specifically calls on the Minister of Finance to introduce an exercise duty 20% on sugar-sweetened beverages such as carbonated sugary and energy drinks.

“Ultimately, the Coalition believes that the National Assembly should a tax on sugary drinks to provide a lasting solution.

“The Coalition of a fund for the prevention and treatment of NCDs and subsidizing health care costs with the treatment of sugar-linked type 2 diabetes. Financing for this tax will come from revenue obtained from the taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages” reads recommendations of the coalition in parts.

Dr. Ude Eze, further urged stakeholders institute measures to ensure that sugar-sweetened beverages carry mandatory nutritional information and health warning labels to ensure that consumers know the product’s sugar content and health risks.

In the months of April and May alone, the General Medical Council, which licenses and maintains the official registry of medical practitioners in the United Kingdom, licensed at least 200 Nigerian doctors.

This means that at least three Nigerian Dictors were licensed every day in April and May 2021, despite the UK government’s February announcement that it would discourage aggressive recruiting of physicians from 47 developing countries, including Nigeria, that face a doctor shortage at home.

In the last ten months, our correspondent has seen that the number of Nigerian-trained doctors practicing in the UK has increased to 8,384 from 7,870, a difference of 514.

Average number of Nigerian trained doctors in the UK rose from an average of 1.3 per day in between July and December 2020 to 3.3 per day in April and May 2021.

Between June 7 and June 8, 2020 – a space of 24 hours – about seven Nigerian trained doctors were licensed by the UK.

Nigeria has the third highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK after India and Pakistan.

However, Nigeria suffers a shortage of doctors.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria puts the total number of registered doctors in Nigeria at 74,543 for the country’s population of about 200 million.

This puts the doctor-patient ratio in the country at 1:3,500.

This falls far below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 1:600.

Also Ay poll by NOI in 2018 also showed that 88 per cent of Nigerian doctors are considering work opportunities abroad, but experts say the figure may be higher due to the rising insecurity and economic crunch.

Other popular destinations for Nigeria trained doctors include United States, Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Australia.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Priyanka Chopra Jonas, David Beckham, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Whoopi Goldberg, Angélique Kidjo, and Liam Neeson have joined an unprecedented call by 28 high-profile UNICEF Ambassadors and Supporters demanding that G7 leaders commit to donating doses of COVID-19 vaccine to poorer countries immediately.

The open letter, which was released today ahead of the three-day G7 Leaders’ Summit in Cornwall, UK (June 11-13), calls on G7 leaders to commit to sharing at least 20% of COVID-19 vaccine dose supply as soon as possible to reduce the risk of the virus spreading further and the threat of mutant strains.

Ramla   Ali, Fernando Alonso, David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, José Manuel Calderón, Sofia Carson, Gemma Chan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Olivia Colman, Billie Eilish, Pau Gasol, Whoopi Goldberg, David Harewood, Sir Chris Hoy, Angelique Kidjo, Téa Leoni, Lucy Liu, Juan Manuel López Iturriaga, Ewan McGregor, Alyssa Milano, Andy Murray, Liam Neeson, Liam Payne, Katy Perry, Sergio Ramos, Claudia Schiffer, Teresa Viejo and P!nk joined UNICEF in calling on G7 world leaders to donate doses and ensure fair and equitable vaccine supply to low- and middle- income countries.

The letter reads; “The world has spent a year and a half battling the COVID-19 pandemic, but the virus is still spreading in many countries and producing new variants with the potential to put us all back where we started,” the letter reads. “This means more school closures, more healthcare disruptions, and greater economic fallout – threating the futures of families and children everywhere.”

The letter goes on to warn that COVAX, the global initiative supporting poorer countries in gaining access to vaccines, is already facing a shortfall of 190 million doses, and proposes that, in order to help cover this shortfall, G7 countries donate 20 per cent of their vaccines between June and August – over 150 million doses – as a temporary stopgap measure to compensate for this shortfall.

Saying, recent data analysis provided by Airfinity, the life sciences research facility, and commissioned by the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), indicates that G7 nations could do so without significant delay to current plans to vaccinate domestic adult populations.

“As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador I believe in the crucial benefit of vaccinations,” said David Beckham, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. “The pandemic won’t be over until it’s over everywhere, so it’s vital that all communities around the world have fair access to Covid-19 vaccines urgently.”

UNICEF is also warning that without urgently ensuring fair and equitable access supply, the world will continue to be at risk of deadly virus mutations – like the devastating second wave of COVID-19 sweeping across India and other South Asian countries including Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas, one of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador said, “The crisis at home in India and across the region of South Asia is devastating. This deadly surge of Covid-19 is placing an enormous strain on health facilities across India, with hospital beds, essential medical supplies and oxygen running out. It’s also of huge concern to all of us at UNICEF to hear about children falling ill with this new variant – while many are also losing parents and left alone and at risk, unable to access critical health care, vaccinations and education.”

“The crisis in India shows why we must act now to avoid further deadly mutations ravaging low- and middle- income nations around the world. UNICEF and its COVAX partners are ensuring vaccines and treatments reaches the world’s most vulnerable populations, but cannot do it alone. A clear solution to this is G7 countries committing to sharing their surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses immediately with the countries whose health workers and vulnerable populations need them the most,” said Priyanka Chopra. “That’s exactly why I’ve joined my fellow UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors in signing this letter, urgently asking G7 leaders to make this commitment at the UK summit this week, to keep families and children everywhere safe from COVID-19.”

Finally, the letter argues that “this weekend’s G7 Summit is a vital opportunity for you to agree the actions that will get vaccines where they are most needed, fast…” and urges leaders to set out a roadmap to scale-up donations as supplies increase, noting that forecasts suggest as many as one billion doses may be available for donation by year end.

Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director said, “Countries need not choose between fighting the disease at home or fighting it abroad. We can, and must, do both simultaneously – and immediately.”
 

While adding that, “This is a pivotal time in the fight against COVID-19, as leaders meet to set priorities for what form this fight will take in the coming weeks and months. I am pleased so many UNICEF supporters are joining our call for emergency support for COVAX, so we can continue to wage this fight globally. After all, the disease is not respecting boundaries on a map. Our fight to get ahead of the virus, and its variants, should not either.”