A/HRC/31/48 Thousands of others claimed that they did not receive their voting cards despite having been registered and holding registration receipts. E. Right to health 32. Ebola virus disease, which broke out in Guinea in March 2014, monopolized nearly all the efforts of the Government and its partners in the area of health. The epidemic led to the death of over 2,000 people, the breakdown of the health system due to the loss of over 100 doctors and medical professionals and the desertion of health facilities by patients with other illnesses such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. 33. With the support of national and international partners, the Government managed to limit the spread of the disease, in particular by conducting intensive awareness raising efforts, monitoring persons who came into contact with the disease, 5 ensuring victims were buried in safe conditions and authorizing an experimental vaccine against Ebola virus. 34. In April 2015, the Government launched a health system recovery plan for 2015 2017 that focuses on the recruitment and training of medical staff, the construction or rebuilding of infrastructure and the development of medical research. In October 2015, the President initiated renovation and expansion work at the Donka University Hospital Centre, the country’s largest hospital. F. Right to education 35. With the assistance of its development partners, the Government made considerable efforts to improve the education system, especially through the Education For All programme developed as part of the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy. In addition, the education­sector adjustment programme has led to a notable improvement in school infrastructure, access to education, quality of instruction and of learning and decentralized management. 36. However, corruption, which is rampant in Government departments, 6 hinders the effectiveness of education and its provision free of charge, for example through the imposition on parents of abusive fees. In some public schools in Guinée Forestière and Haute-Guinée, in addition to the contributions to the parents’ association, every new student is required to provide a desk and chair or to pay the equivalent amount, carry out housekeeping or gardening chores and provide personal services to some teachers. These practices impede the right to education and should entail the imposition of effective disciplinary measures. G. Fight against impunity 37. In his previous report, the High Commissioner for Human Rights recommended to the Government that it continue to combat impunity, particularly through effective prosecution of alleged perpetrators of human rights violations committed during the events of 28 September 2009, the incidents that took place in Zogota in August 2012, the intercommunal violence of 15 to 18 July 2013, the attacks in Womey on 16 September 2014 and the numerous cases of torture pending before the courts. The __________________ 5 6 GE.16-00828 Any asymptomatic person who has come into physical contact with a known case or with the bodily fluids of the latter. In 2014, Guinea ranked 145th out of 175 on the Corruption Perceptions Index calculated by Transparency International; see www.transparency.org/cpi2014/infographic/global. 7/15