A new study out of Cambridge found that loans from the IMF are associated with sharp and statistically significant rises in tuberculosis cases and deaths, probably because the IMF forces government to cut spending on health and prevention programs. The study controlled for prevalence of AIDS, inflation rates, urbanization, unemployment rates, the age of the population, improved surveillance, and the possibility that the rises in tuberculosis were associated with factors that led to the loan in the first place. The IMF, as you'd expect, disputes the findings.
