The Ministry of Health and Social Services says it wants a share of the revenue collected by Treasury from gambling and sin taxes.
The Ministry argues that it deserves to benefit a portion of the revenue as it is responsible for cleaning the mess resulting from the indulgence of alcohol, drug abuse and gambling addiction through counselling and rehabilitation.
The Ministry’s Control Social Worker Geraldine Kanyinga said the government is operating under immense pressure due to limited financial resources in addressing the scourge of addiction, depression and drug abuse.
“As a Ministry, we are besieged with the responsibility of rehabilitating people who are suffering from addiction as a result of gambling, alcohol and drug abuse, but we are not directly benefiting from the sin taxes and other related tax that emanates from these trades. We are therefore appealing to the political head [Minister Kalumbi Shangula] to advocate for such interests as it will help in capacitating us in order to assist more people. We need a share from the taxes given to us directly,” said Kanyinga.
“We deserve a share as clearly stipulated in the Tobacco and Gambling Acts, but we are not receiving such revenue. For instance, in South Africa and Botswana, their department of substance gets such dues, but in Namibia, it is not happening, yet every year sin taxes increase, but to no avail,” Kanyinga added.
The Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises Iipumbu Shiimi in February announced an increase in sin tax, increasing the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes by N$0.98, a kg of cigars by N$237.79; unfortified wine by N$0.24 per litre, whereas fortified wine increased by N$0.41 per litre.
In addition, sparkling wine increased by N$0.12 per litre, spirits now cost an extra N$12.08 per litre, clear malt beer increased by N$5.99 per litre; ciders and alcoholic fruit beverages by N$5.99 per litre.
Kanyinga stated that the Ministry annually spends about N$9 million to run its centre and cater for utilities, staff salaries and other related expenses.
“This is a lot of money which we often do not have, and it only covers basic stuff, allowing us to operate minimally. We wish to be doing more, and that can only be possible if we benefit from these taxes where the problem emanates from. We are held up in doing more prevention, treatment, increasing human resource, building capacity and additional centres” she stressed.
“The treatment of these effects is very expensive, for instance now we only have one centre and cost that department millions, that is why you don’t find the establishment of many centres as it requires having a diversified workforce from psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and nurses. So we are doing something in the country but it is not enough. We need to establish ourselves in bigger regions.”
Currently there are two operational centres offering multidisciplinary interventions, of which one is state owned charging between N$350 to N$1,000 for a five week programme, while the other is privately owned and charges N$35,000.
“That is why you find many people not seeking help because of the costs involved, hence also you find the state is overwhelmed as it is slightly cheaper, but with limited resources we do the small portion we can as we won’t manage to accommodate everyone,” added Kanyinga.
Kanyinga shared these sentiments at a validation meeting of the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP), where Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula inaugurated a 10 member National Drug Control Commissioner’s board to regulate and oversee the operationalisation of the NDCMP.
Kalumbi said the master plan signifies the importance of good health to the people as it is a prerequisite for national development.
“As we gather to celebrate this remarkable achievement, we must recognise the profound impact that the Commission will have on the supply and demand reduction strategy. The Commission will also play a leading role in galvanising relevant stakeholders to work synergistically in order to ensure the National Drug Control Master Plan is implemented effectively in order to reduce the harmful use of legal and illegal drugs,” Kalumbi said.
The Commission is tasked to enhance national management, oversight, reporting, monitoring and evaluation of the National Drug Control Master Plan 2019/20-2023/24).
The Commission is also expected to implement measures to advance drug demand reduction, address health issues associated with drug use, in particular the use of injectable drugs; as the incarceration of drug use, and promotion of proportionate age and gender sentencing, among others.
