Public health advocates have urged the Federal Government to increase annual funding for tobacco control from the current N13 million to at least N300 million.

The groups warned that inadequate financing could undermine Nigeria’s efforts to curb tobacco use.

They said the country’s tobacco control programme remains heavily dependent on foreign donors despite the enactment of the National Tobacco Control Act, 2015, raising concerns over its sustainability as global development funding declines.

According to the advocates, allocations to tobacco control rose from N4.7 million in 2023 to N10 million in 2024 and N13 million in 2025, but remain insufficient to fund enforcement, public education, research, cessation services and tobacco industry monitoring.

They noted that while Nigeria has made significant progress in tobacco control since ratifying the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, implementation of the law has relied largely on support from international partners.

The groups cited data from the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), which estimated that Nigeria spent about N526.4 billion treating tobacco-related illnesses in 2019.

They also referenced World Health Organization estimates showing that more than 3.5 million Nigerians use tobacco, while about 16,100 die annually from tobacco-related diseases.

To address the funding gap, the advocates called for a dedicated financing mechanism through earmarking a portion of tobacco tax revenues for tobacco control programmes, saying the model has been successfully adopted in countries such as Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire.

Executive Secretary of the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme, Dr. Vetty Agala, said sustainable financing should focus on revenue generation, pooling of resources and strategic purchasing to support enforcement and other tobacco control interventions.

The Nigerian Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) said increasing the Tobacco Control Fund to at least N300 million would strengthen implementation of the National Tobacco Control Act.

They maintained that sustained domestic investment, rather than continued dependence on donor funding, is critical to protecting Nigerians from the health and economic consequences of tobacco use.