Spending cuts imposed by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have contributed to the rapid spread of
Ebola in three West African states, UK-based researchers say.
It had led to “under-funded,
insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems” in Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Guinea, they said.
The IMF denied the allegation.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever
has so far killed more than 7,300 people, mostly in the three states.
“A major reason why the Ebola
outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the
region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked,” said
Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author Alexander Kentikelenis.
Policies requiring that government
spending be slashed were “extremely strict, absorbing funds that could be
directed to meeting pressing health challenges”, the study said.
Mr Kentikelenis told the BBC’s
Newsday programme that caps on wage bills meant countries could not hire heath
staff and pay them adequately.
The IMF’s emphasis on decentralised
healthcare systems had also made it difficult to mobilise a co-ordinated
response to health emergencies such as the Ebola outbreak, he said.
Study co-author Lawrence King said
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone had met the IMF’s directives in 2013, just
before the Ebola outbreak.
However, they all “failed to raise
their social spending despite pressing health needs”, he said.
The IMF said in a statement that
health spending in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone had, in fact, increased in
the 2010-2013 period.
It was “completely untrue” that IMF
policies had caused Ebola to spread, a spokesman is quoted by AFP news agency
as saying
“Such claims are based on a
misunderstanding, and, in some cases, a misrepresentation, of IMF policies,” he
said.
The three poor West African states
are heavily dependent on donor funding.
Conflict in Liberia and Sierra Leone
in the 1990s also contributed to the destruction of their health systems.
(BBC)
IMF policies blamed for Ebola spread in West Africa
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Monday, December 22, 2014
Rating:
No comments: