Experts have warned Nigerians as the country ranks 4th in the world for the highest consumers of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, -SSBs, also known as soft drinks in the country.
The Executive Director of Project PINK BLUE, Ms. Runcie Chidebe, revealed this at the global week of action for non-communicable diseases this year’s theme: Invest in NCDs today, save lives and money tomorrow in Abuja.
Chidebe, represented by the Programme Coordinator, Project PINK BLUE, Gloria Okwu, said the World Health Organization, WHO recommends that individuals take less than 10 cubes of sugar per day as a 35cl bottle contains as much as nine cubes of sugar. She also stated that uncontrolled sugar intake could lead to other health conditions, like cancer, and kidney diseases.
On her part, Health Communications Specialist, National Action on Sugar Reduction, Omei Bongos-Okwue, had given a strict warning to Nigerians to moderate their intake of soft drinks as the cost of treating diabetes has skyrocketed, like almost every other thing in the country, from N60,000 to N300,000.
People diagnosed with diabetes are expected to check their blood sugar levels every day and some are expected to inject insulin every day which costs over N2,500 while the immediate cost of treating a diabetic foot ulcer has gone up to more than N1 million in a country where the minimum wage is N30,000.
Diabetes is incurable at the moment and anyone who is diagnosed with diabetes will have no choice but to suffer the illness for a long time.
