The Miseducation of Esperanza Luvindao, Namibia’s Minister of Health

While opening a workshop on tobacco and alcohol control policies in Windhoek last year, Esperanza Luvindao, Namibia’s Minister of Health and Social Services, proposed an increase in taxes and prices on tobacco and alcohol as a deterrent to discourage the consumption of these products.

Luvindao says the harmful use of tobacco and alcohol burdens the health system and is one of the contributing factors to preventable illness and death.

“It is clear that further deterrent actions are required, particularly in the area of tax reform to discourage the consumption of these products”, Luvindao said.

We can all agree that alcohol and tobacco add to the public health burden through an increase in non-communicable diseases, accidents, and avoidable injuries but does increasing taxes and the prices of these products lead to a decrease in their use or does it have the adverse effect of pushing Namibian households, especially those already impacted by the high cost of living further into poverty.

A University of Namibia (UNAM) study, conducted by Laili Iipumbu titled: Investigating the crowd-out effects of tobacco and alcohol expenditure on household allocation in Namibia states that “Tobacco and alcohol consumption are not only unhealthy, but also potentially bum a hole in household disposable income, reducing expenditure on income on basic household commodities”.

Iipumbu’s research shows that expenditure on alcohol and tobacco steals from the expenditure medium- to poor-households use for food, health, clothing, recreation, etc.

This means that in low- and middle-income countries like Namibia, where poverty is widespread, the introduction of taxes that raise the price of alcohol increases the financial burden on the poor households; exacerbating inequality, especially when not paired with social protections like rehabilitation centres and subsidies for healthy alternatives, which are often out of the reach of the masses.

Iipumbu goes on to state that evidence suggests that the impact is higher in lower-and middle-incomes of countries and among poorer households.

Luvindao’s Globalist, Elitist Agenda

The World Health Organisation (WHO), which Luvindao seems to hold in greater regard than the Namibian people proposes through its SAFER policy that raising prices on alcohol through excise taxes and pricing policies is a proven measure to reduce harmful use of alcohol.

The policy says the increase in taxes provides governments with revenue to ‘offset’ the economic costs of harmful use of alcohol.

The research on how alcohol pricing affects was conducted by Frank J. Chaloupka, Alexander Wagenaar, Markus Gehrsitz and Michael Grossman demonstrated that higher taxes and higher alcohol prices reduce consumption and related harms in Europe, Canada, and the United Kingdom and other high-income countries.

Luvindao, who is not an elected representative of the Namibian people but is rather appointed by the countries President Netumbo Ndaitwah, relies on experts from developed countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) to propose without full context a policy and tax law which  will place Namibian households further into poverty.

Namibia’s Minister of Health seeks to impose a universal rule regardless of local socio-economic realities.

Her proposal is a classic example of how global health policies collide with local economic realities.

According to estimates from the Namibian statistics authorities, on average, Namibian Households spend 7 to 8% of their monthly income on alcohol.

Poor households spend more, with the average being as high as 15% in the informal communities.

A beer that costs N$ 27 means very little to a high-income household; however, Luvindao should be informed that N$27 spent from a poor household takes away from food, transport, and school money from the kids.

Economically, the price and consumption of alcohol and tobacco are inelastic, meaning an increase in Price decreases demand.

But socially, the burden falls on people in poverty, and the benefits of such taxation are unevenly distributed.

Making decisions that affect local taxation and household budgets without democratic debate at the national level allows sovereign states to be overly influenced by globalist, elitist agendas that are not beneficial to local communities.

Since she was appointed Minister of Health and Services, Esperanza Luvindao has made the The Namibian public is uncomfortable. A medical doctor by training, her public health training credentials have been debated amongst medical experts who have questioned her calibre and competence in leading such a crucial ministry. Her position on taxation and price policy of alcohol and tobacco products proves that Esperanza Luvindao lacks insight, knowledge and experience of the lives and realities of many Namibians.

Vitalio Angula is a socio-political commentator and independent columnist

He can be reached at [email protected]