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	Ebola crisis: IMF policies led to doctor shortage and hampered response to outbreak, study says by AFP, agencies   22 Dec 2014   Researchers say the International Monetary Fund''s (IMF) policies have left healthcare systems in Ebola-affected West African countries underfunded and lacking doctors, and have hampered a coordinated response to the outbreak.   Links between the IMF and the rapid spread of the disease were examined by researchers from Cambridge University''s sociology department, with colleagues from Oxford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.   They found IMF programs held back the development of effective health systems in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - the three countries at the epicentre of the outbreak that has killed over 7,370 people.   Reforms advocated by the IMF hampered the ability of the health systems to cope with infectious disease outbreaks and other emergencies, the researchers found.   "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," Cambridge sociologist and lead study author Alexander Kentikelenis said.   "Policies advocated by the IMF have contributed to under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems in the countries with Ebola outbreaks."   The researchers examined policies enforced by the IMF before the outbreak, using information from IMF lending programs from 1990 to 2014, and analysed their effects on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.   They found the healthcare systems were weakened by the IMF''s requirement of economic reforms that cut government spending, a requirement of caps on the public sector wage bill, and a policy of decentralised healthcare systems.   On the requirement to reduce government spending, researchers found that "such policies have been extremely strict, absorbing funds that could be directed to meeting pressing health challenges".   "In 2013, just before the Ebola outbreak, the three countries met the IMF''s economic directives, yet all failed to raise their social spending despite pressing health needs," Cambridge sociologist and study co-author Lawrence King said.   The public wage cap meant the countries were unable to hire nurses and doctors and pay them adequately, while decentralised healthcare systems made it hard to mobilise coordinated responses to outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola.   A spokesman for the IMF claimed that the organisation''s mandate did not specifically include public health and that it was "untrue" that the spread of Ebola was a consequence of IMF policies.   "Such claims are based on a misunderstanding of IMF policies," the spokesman said. "Since 2009, loans from the IMF to low-income countries have been at zero interest rate, which has freed up resources for countries to spend more on health and education."   The spokesman said that the IMF had provided a $130 million financial package in September towards Ebola, and that they were working towards offering a package worth a similar amount to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone next year.   * See link below for a Lancet report. Visit the related web page
	This year, activism around the world has been fueled by video by Yvette Alberdingk Thijm Witness Human Rights Video Channel   Video captured by an accidental witness may have made the difference between impunity and justice this week in America, and set a new precedent for the prosecution of incidents of police aggression in the United States.   Last Saturday in South Carolina, Walter Scott was pulled over for a routine traffic stop by a police officer— an encounter which ultimately cost Mr. Scott his life. Officer Michael Slager''s report of what happened that morning, detailing an altercation in which Mr. Scott was allegedly the aggressor, was refuted when a citizen video that captured the event surfaced. The video not only shows the officer shooting at an unarmed Mr. Scott, who was running away from him, but it also shows Officer Slager appearing to tamper with the crime scene.   There is no restitution for a tragedy such as this one. We are encouraged, however, that a brave citizen was able to capture what he was witnessing so that justice may prevail. His video helps change the picture.   Our co-founder Peter Gabriel recently wrote in WIRED: "The evidence being trusted in courts today is most often based on our fallible memories, spoken evidence produced long after the event, which in turn, is being proved to be unreliable at best and often re-imagined. Video has the capability to put more reality into the world of ''remembered'' evidence."   It is too early to tell if the charges brought against one police officer will change the course of how police violence incidents are investigated in the United States. But we remain steadfast in our support of citizens using video and our belief that video will be increasingly instrumental in bringing about justice.   As a community, we have witnessed and protested police violence committed against unarmed men in the US. We’ve seen and cried out against military aggression Syria, which continues to displace hundreds of thousands. We’ve stood in solidarity with young people in Hong Kong as they broadcast their demands for democracy.   At the end of each year, WITNESS stops to reflect on the human rights stories captured on video by citizens and shared on our curated Human Rights Channel.   In 2014, citizens documented some of the most egregious human rights abuses on video and brought them to the attention of newsrooms, world leaders, and the international community at large.   Our 2014 Year In Review Video highlights the footage that made headlines – from Gaza to Syria to Ukraine – as well as the less publicized, but no less horrifying, stories coming out of places like Honduras, Vietnam, and Western Sahara.   While these stories can be hard to watch, we believe that video is one of the most effective ways to expose the truth and catalyze change. We have been able to amplify hundreds of human rights videos in 2014 alone--stories that would otherwise go unseen, unheard, unchanged.   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/magazine/the-media-doesnt-care-what-happens-here.html Visit the related web page
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