Samuel Omondi, 34-year-old taxi driver for Nairobi, dey drink two or three bottles of sweet soda every hard 12-hour shift as e dey waka for the city's chaotic traffic.

"Na my fuel e be," e talk as e dey take small breath for busy taxi stand for the Kenyan capital. "Cheap, sweet, and e dey give me quick burst of energy to keep going."

Last year dem diagnose Samuel with Type 2 diabetes. The father of three now dey spend big part of him money on medicine and weekly check-ups.

"I think say I just dey quench my thirst. I no sabi say I dey drink myself into sickness," he tell TRT Afrika as e hold bottle water. "If that soda don cost more, maybe I for don choose water long ago."

Thousands of miles away, for Lusaka, Zambia, 19-year-old college student Chileshe Banda lose him older brother last year for road accident wey drunk driving cause. Him brother, wey be electrician wey dey start well for him career, dey walk go house.

"Alcohol full everywhere for here, and e cheap like you dey buy air," Chileshe tell TRT Afrika. "E steal my brother."

The driver dey drink cheap, strong beer wey easy to find and for some places the price lower pass bottled water.

Tax trap

For Chileshe family, the economic and emotional gap don permanent. The wahala still show why the World Health Organisation (WHO) dey link alcohol-related injury and violence directly to the availability of cheap spirits.

Samuel and Chileshe stories also reflect continent-wide health crisis wey dey come from low taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol. Plenty WHO studies don show say as these products dey cheaper compared to income, the burden of preventable diseases and injuries for health systems dey rise.

"Health taxes na one of the strongest tools we get to promote health and prevent disease," WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus talk.

WHO don dey urge governments to "significantly strengthen" these levies, warning say weak tax systems make harmful products remain affordable while society dey carry the long-term cost of their easy availability.

Even though many African countries don introduce such taxes, dem usually small and no fit change behaviour. WHO report say the median tax on a common sugary soda na only 2% of im price and e many times no cover plenty high-sugar products like fruit juices and sweetened milk-based drinks.

Patchwork policy

For alcohol, the global excise tax median dey so low wey e almost no meaningful compared to many other products. For many countries, these taxes no even dey adjusted for inflation, so beer, spirits and wine dey steadily more affordable and more people dey reach them.

"Affordable alcohol dey drive violence, injuries and disease," warn Dr Etienne Krug, director of WHO's department of health determinants. "While industry dey make profit, public health be the one wey dey suffer the consequences of large-scale consumption of these products."

As these products spread and government administration sometimes encourage them, several African nations don implement taxes on sugary drinks. South Africa lead with the "Health Promotion Levy" wey dem introduce in 2018. Morocco, Tunisia, Seychelles, Mauritius, Namibia, Botswana and Eswatini follow.

Kenya dey impose excise duty on sugary drinks, while Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria don also implement taxes. For Nigeria, the taxation policy still dey debate over how to implement am and the rate of the levies.

Burdened elsewhere

Based on WHO estimates, tax rates across several of these countries still too low to meaningfully reduce consumption or to generate substantial revenue for overstretched health services.

Policy experts admit say 'sin' taxes must high enough, wide to cover all sugary products, and fit dey adjusted regularly for inflation and income growth to prevent these unhealthy items from becoming more affordable over time.

WHO's new "3 by 35" initiative aim to increase the real prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks by 2035. For African governments, the writing dey for the wall. The short-term attraction of cheap drinks na hospital wards and funeral homes dey collect the bill from citizens like Samuel and families like Chileshe's.

Back in Nairobi, Samuel now dey volunteer for him local clinic as campaigner against sugary drinks. "We must make the healthy choice the easier one to make," e talk.

For Chileshe for Lusaka, the call be justice through prevention. "Tax alcohol higher. Make am harder to get drunk on a whim. If e save one life, e worth am," he tell TRT Afrika.