The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on the federal and state governments to urgently adopt robust healthy food policies to stem the rising tide of cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.
The organisation made the call ahead of World Heart Day 2025 tomorrow.
Its Media and Communication Officer, Robert Egb in a statement on Sunday, urged authorities at all levels to implement evidence-based measures, including mandatory salt reduction targets, an effective sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tax of at least N130 per litre.
It also called for mandatory front-of-pack warning labels (FOPWL) on packaged and ultra-processed foods (UPF), restrictions on the advertising and marketing of junk foods, tobacco and smokeless nicotine products, especially to children, and an increase in tobacco taxes to at least 100 per cent.
CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi urged the government not to renege on its plan to earmark these taxes for strengthening the health sector.
He noted: “These measures are proven, cost-effective interventions that will save lives and protect families from the devastating health and financial burdens of heart disease and related illnesses.
“Excessive consumption of salt and sugar-sweetened beverages increases the risk of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity—key drivers of cardiovascular diseases. Similarly, tobacco use damages the heart and blood vessels, raising the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
“Nigeria is already paying the price. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the leading causes of death in the country. The Nigerian Cardiac Society recently revealed that about one-third of Nigerian adults live with high blood pressure, with rates rising to 40 per cent in some regions.
“Alarmingly, one-third of hypertensive Nigerians are undiagnosed, and another third have uncontrolled blood pressure despite knowing their status.”
Oluwafemi decried that as of 2021, only 13 centres in Nigeria were conducting heart surgery, with just 80 heart surgeons serving a population of over 200 million people.
According to him, Heart surgery costs have also risen steeply—from about ₦3 million to ₦5.5 million on average in 2024 according to media reports—placing lifesaving care far beyond the reach of most families,” it added.
Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), Oluwafemi stressed that cardiovascular diseases claim 17.9 million lives globally every year, with more than 75 per cent of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries like Nigeria.
He said most of these deaths are preventable through policies that reduce harmful risk factors such as tobacco use, excessive salt and sugar consumption, physical inactivity, and alcohol abuse.
CAPPA emphasised that government cannot continue to rely solely on individual responsibility in the fight against CVDs and NCDs.
It maintained that strong government policies are needed to create healthier environments and ensure that healthier choices become the order of the day for Nigerians.