link=topic=154942.msg2731106#msg2731106 date=1220134673:

Asides, I wouldn't want free healthcare for myself or family, as health is too precious to have it free.

Really?

Well, i live in a country where d system works n i got FREE medical care until i started working.

@ topic
It wont happen in our time, the resource is not unavailable or how do u explain local govt not remitting trillions of naira, nnpc etc? can those not take care of such? The issue is those guys @ d healm of affais prefer to spend what can provide free health care for 100 Nigerians on just one of them to travel abroad for medical care eg how many ppl will the amount spent on Yaradua on each of his frequent trips abroad provide free care for? The country will pay for d flight, accomodation, feeding, shopping, of himself, his aides, his wife n kids, his whatever n then the hospital bill.

Good idea for the unemployed n those on low income but it wont happen in Nigeria at least not anytime soon.

@ Topic

No

Reason; Nothing good is free. Somethings gotta give.

bawomolo:

 

u have a point but castro is the last person that i would call visionary.  nigeria has to build up it's health infrastructure or have quality doctors like those of cuba before even talking about free healthcare. i would take quality healthcare over free healtcare

how did u arrive at your surmission that castro is not a visionary leader?fair enough you might not agree with his way of doing things or his politics but to say he is not a visionary leader is paying him a disservice to say the least,i agree nigeria has to build its health care but then again we  are blessed with enough doctors who have the poential to be world class standards given the right equipments and training,
the point here is that we have the funds
we have the quality of doctors and consultants who are world class standards
so why cant we make it happen really??
we can  definitely do qualitative healthcare and free health delivery if its made a top priority

lucabrasi:

im not muddling it up,what im saying is that if we can afford to have quality healthcare and free health for all,why not??
free healthcare would hamper needed investments IF we do not have the financial wherewithal to make it happen, thats why i gave the example of congo and how they gave a portion of their mineral deposit to china to mine in return for them buildn hospitals,roads and other infrastructures to match the worth of the minerals after logistics is taken out of the total,
in that situation we do not even need to spend a single naira but give them a couple of oil blocs, if generals,politicians,obas and others can have several oil blocs,then a serious president who is desirous of creating a first class healthcare delivery will have no problem giving oil blocs in exchange for world class medical institutions situated in all the major regions of nigeria,
do you realise there are reports that even governore odili who was just a 2 time governor has a standard hospital in southafrica bought with ill gotten money and we r here talking about a whole country where all of them steal from, [color=#990000][/color][size=8pt][/size]

Exactly!

Okija_juju:

@ Topic

No

Reason; Nothing good is free. Somethings gotta give.

Again i got FREE medical care until i started work. It was good and FREE

Free is not the issue but Quality healthcare: its easy to start anything but its hard to maintain it, esp. in Nigeria.


Even medicare, there are many people in the USA(a great country) that don't qualify for such programs. In fact about 18 million people in the USA are uninsured. Not because medicare is not available but because its a hard and expensive program to maintain so they need qualifiers to cut people out of the program.

Even right now with the terrible quality of healthcare, the cost is still outrageous in Nigeria compared to average earnings. All the Oil money we have can not pay for Free Health Care for 140 Million people. It is not doable and not wise to even embark on such a project. Improving quality will cost more money and that is money, aside from money to pay for healthcare costs.

I believe that embarking on more reasonable disease prevention measures at this time makes more sense. You clean up the environment, provide the people with adequate supply of clean water, push for vaccination of children and basically cultivating a prevention lifestyle will go along way in aiding the current health situation in that country. On the other hand, pushing for higher quality of healthcare, as well as providing subsidies makes more sense than embarking on an unreasonable project such as free health care for all, at this time in Nigeria. The same money many claim we have is the same pool we dip into to pull money for infrastruture and our new white elephant nuclear project.

Okija_juju:

@ Topic
No
Reason; Nothing good is free. Somethings gotta give.

I have to say I do not agree. I happen to have benefitted from the free healthcare for unemployed program here and I have to say, nothing low quality of it. I thank God for it as I still have my complete 32 and my eyes cause of programs like these. The Problem was through a church and not even the government.

I believe that embarking on more reasonable disease prevention measures at this time makes more sense.

good point. Unfortunately, most international aid programs that go to places like Africa, focus on treatment rather than prevention methods. So yes, you are right.

Free healthcare in Nigeria?

rotflmao!! Even if that's possible, what say you of the poor ppl in the village?

lucabrasi:

how did u arrive at your surmission that castro is not a visionary leader?fair enough you might not agree with his way of doing things or his politics but to say he is not a visionary leader is paying him a disservice to say the least,i agree nigeria has to build its health care but then again we  are blessed with enough doctors who have the poential to be world class standards given the right equipments and training,
the point here is that we have the funds
we have the quality of doctors and consultants who are world class standards
so why can't we make it happen really??
we can  definitely do qualitative healthcare and free health delivery if its made a top priority

castro was not really a visionary leader. his rise to power was aided by che guevara and the anti-batista elements he later purged out. that's not really what the thread is about.

we can do it but not in the short term future. u honestly don't expect a country states have huge domestic debts to start UHC. you are just going to start chaos. subsidized healthcare is a good start but UHC won't work at all.

International Aid Agencies have their hands tied by the government in countries where they mostly move to. They can only do so much for the people. People these days no longer consider their words as much as they consider what these agencies have to offer them for free. IMagine the number of condoms given away for free in Nigeria alone by many of these agencies. At the end of the day, many of these people have to choose to use them or not. Remember the case last year in the north where the people outright rejected calls to vaccinate their babies? People have to understand that they need to be more responsible. Nigerians are not there yet.

Remember the case last year in the north where the people outright rejected calls to vaccinate their babies? People have to understand that they need to be more responsible.

But you have to understand people's fear. There are many cases in Nigeria whereby phamarceutical corporations (Pfizer/and others) have tested thier drugs on our people, lying to them that they're vaccination but those drugs lead to tragic consequences (death, and other forms of deformities, ) So I don't blame anyone.

I understand that the government should be responsible for thier people, but international aid agencies do enough (giving out moquito nets, condoms and co) I don't think that they have thier hands tied, they have access its just they can'only do soo much.

madamkoko:


But you have to understand people's fear. There are many cases in Nigeria whereby phamarceutical corporations (Pfizer/and others) have tested their drugs on our people, lying to them that they're vaccination but those drugs lead to tragic consequences (death, and other forms of deformities, ) So I don't blame anyone.

Even I, as educated as I am today, would think twice before allowing anyone in Nigeria lay hands on me to give me drug of any kind. Having had several family members die at the hands of doctors in Nigeria in the past couple of years alone, I would be petrified if I were to find myself in need of medical help on any of my visits to Nigeria. I understand the fears, that is why I pointed out earlier that government needs to instead invest money in improving quality of healthcare in that country first and foremost.

bawomolo:

castro was not really a visionary leader. his rise to power was aided by che guevara and the anti-batista elements he later purged out. that's not really what the thread is about.

we can do it but not in the short term future. u honestly don't expect a country states have huge domestic debts to start UHC. you are just going to start chaos. subsidized healthcare is a good start but UHC won't work at all.

it takes a visionary leader to build a country from nothing to one of the best in terms of medicine,its takes a visionary leader to lead a country through tens of years of sanctions ,communism e.t.c however like u said thats not wat this thread is all about

of course not in the short term i totally agree with that but im saying if it was put in the front burner,and we got our priorities right then it wont cost us anything to do it, if u called ibb,atiku,danjuma,and maybe 2 or 3 other governors,they are wealthy enough to build 5 world class fully equipped hospitals talk less of nigeria

In the light of President Obama's health reform, does anyone believe in free healthcare for all Nigerians.

davidif:

In the light of President Obama's health reform, does anyone believe in free healthcare for all Nigerians.

have you personally benefitted from Obama's health reform before jumping on the zombie bandwagon?

No but i might soon.

nope, not soon!
Nigeria (Govt) doesn't have the WILL to do this , I must confess. I'm not a pessimist but these goons have found a way to kill a gr8 chunk of the optimism one has for the fatherland!!
when this will be do-able will be in a time when a more socially responsive government is on seat & not this inept parade we have standing before us. at this speed in democratic deliverables, say year 2100 for real!!!

canada has the closest to free healthcare i think but dont they pay something like 50% in taxes. the us is only 23% and the healthcare system there sucks big time

With the trillions of dollars we have in debt, you seriously believe Americans will enjoy FREE healthcare for all anytime soon? By the time your taxes get HIKED to pay for your FREE healthcare, you go begin wonder how FREE FREE really is.

Roflmao!!!! You live for here sef?

FREE Healthcare for all is a very good idea. In the scandinavian countries, their tax is very high for working people, no escaping tax.

The problem I have with free things is that nobody want to pay for it.

If healthcare is totally free, who will pay for it?

In Nigeria, many taxable people avoid paying tax.

The oil money in Nigeria is not enough to provide free healthcare for all. Let us be realistic about free things for everybody.

I support free healthcare for: pregnant women, children under 18, pensioners and the officially jobless people. This means that employed people must be ready to pay tax to support the healthcare system in Nigeria.

Excellent record keeping of everybody must be done by the FG for any success.

Yes, free health care is good. But we must define how free it is. I hope it will be free if u go for cancer, typhoid, gonorrhea, kidney transplant, heart disease too, Not just free for headache, fever, body pain. Let it be free for any ailment.

Free medical in any illness is okay not just for minor illness

I will like free healthcare in Naija o but when we keep comparing our Naija systems to other nations, remember these people pay up to 40% of their income in taxes. Now, now, we all know how it is here. I remember they started giving out free medication for common illnesses like malaria some years ago and people (who are not even sick) will just go to the hospital to collect - their share of the national cake. This mentality will make it difficult for these things to work here.

@Kobojunkie
i was born in the us thank you much

uummmm . . . .  ok ( not sure why you had to tell me that ) but how does that change anything?

What about American Healthcare system sucks? By the way Canadian tax is actually high compared to American tax. Canadian healthcare QUALITY is not as good as American HealthCare Quality. So, if when you say American HealthCare SUCKS, you mean it costs more, then I ask you, who should be paying for it so you can get it free?

The system currently has people who are not even sick going to hospitals on Medicaid and you think it sucks? I live in a state where healthcare is provided FREE to children and adults and we pay seriously in taxes here. I mean people are already complaining and fighting any push to further increase taxes here. My Question is, if the people who want this free healthcare do not want to pay more, where is the money to pay for all this going to come from?

Kobojunkie:

uummmm . . . . ok ( not sure why you had to tell me that ) but how does that change anything?

I think the response

agathamari:

@Kobojunkie
i was born in the us thank you much

was to your

Kobojunkie:

, Roflmao!!!! You live for here sef?

Hope that clears the air

with my little experience with healthcare in nigeria, what nigeria need is free PRIMARY HEALTHCARE. we can do it WHO style , just like cuba targeting prevention and education and treatment using available technology(modified for our use).the most expensive and difficult part is the education and prevention.nigeria has one of the highest rate of under 5 mortality rates in the world and sadly the top killers are diarhoea,measles, upper respiratory tract infections and malnutrition! they are responsible for 90 percent of the cases, they are extremely easy to manage too! T he main issue is the commitment to immunisation by govt and health workers, education and empowerement of mothers is the singular most effective method of fighting malnutrition, diarrhoea(wch kills in 8 hrs!) in children because research in eastern and southern part of nigeria has shown that when mothers are thot local preparation of salt sugar solution,and local and cheap sources of balanced diets (like pap.ground crayfish etc), mortality decreased by as much as 70 percent! clean healthy water is still an issue because it is almost based on political will!

with maternal mortality rates, well, we need good centres that are well eqiuped, that is lacking in nigeria, shikena!!

Actually, i support free health care, but not for all. It should be for:

1. Pregnant women
2. Accident Victims
3. Robbery victims
4. People between the ages of 0-18 (minor)
5. Retired people or say, 50 years and above.

But do we all pay our taxes?

YES , THIS IS GOING TO BE VERY POSSIBLE

YES IT WOULD