Informal payments and the illusion of free care: a perspective from Somalia’s fragile health system
Ilyas Abdullahi Khalif, Yusuf Abdullahi Hubow, Abas Nor Abdi, Nour Ahmed Dahir, Aniso Mohamed Abdi, Sharmake Gaiye Bashir · 2026
Read Informal payments and the illusion of free care: a perspective from Somalia’s fragile health system by Ilyas Abdullahi Khalif, Yusuf Abdullahi Hubow, Abas Nor Abdi, Nour Ahmed Dahir, Aniso Mohamed Abdi, Sharmake Gaiye Bashir (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13270704.txt.
Description
Ilyas Abdullahi Khalif is lead author of a 2026 Perspective article on hidden, off-the-record payments for health care in Somalia. The authors call the wider pattern the illusion of free care: policies promise free treatment, yet patients still pay informally to get seen or treated.
The article frames these payments not as lone acts of corruption, but as a predictable result of low funding, weak governance, and poorly protected health workers. It sets out a four-stage process from policy promise to unequal patient outcomes, noting that the poorest are shut out most and trust suffers. The authors argue real reform must fix financing, worker protection, and accountability.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Ilyas Abdullahi Khalif, Yusuf Abdullahi Hubow, Abas Nor Abdi, Nour Ahmed Dahir, Aniso Mohamed Abdi, Sharmake Gaiye Bashir |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 22602 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |