Free health policy is kind of a campaign slogan for many politicians seeking to be governors especially in the southwest. Now if you happen to work in a government hospital you will come to realize that it is detrimental to the development of such communities. I am not an anti-fashola (the guy has contributed immensely, but can do better sha), but taking Lagos State for example, you would realise that in government facilities running the free health policy, which caters for the paediatric and geriatric age groups, the government tend to neglect funding those areas cause they believe in the policy of "put your money where your mouth is". Imagine a secondary health care facility not having stationary to write on? I asked one of the hospital administrators of one of such hospitals and he said most of the resources the hospital uses are from donations from NGOs, as the government contributes little to the upkeep of the hospital. It is also saddening cause the impression the majority of the citizenry who use such hospitals are of the low socio-economic class, so they end up coming to the hospital without a dime, thinking everything is absolutely free! And when you tell them they need to buy some things, they then rush home to fetch the money.
There is one of the few areas where I find a fault with the government policy in such states. Quality health care never comes for free, and we will always lag behind in that sector if we don't change our ideology. The United States health budget alone is more than the fiscal budget for Nigeria for a year, and they are supposedly the richest country in the world so why don't they run a free health policy? And of course you know our "high and fly" here in Nigeria won't even hesitate to send themselves or relatives abroad in as much as even an ant bites them.
The health insurance scheme would go a long way in solving this problem if It is re-evaluated and the corruption part of it diminished