Aid after disasters: Economic considerations tend to take priority

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7507.49-b

BMJ 2005;331:49-50 (2 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7507.49-b

Letter

Aid after disasters

Economic considerations tend to take priority

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—In their editorial van Ommeren et al show thatreactions to natural disasters are delicate international matters.¹Spiegel divided these disasters into natural disasters and complexemergencies. He cited political opinion or backlash as a predominantdetermining factor affecting response to these events.² Theseresponses, however, may instead be influenced more stronglyby vested economic interest.

By Spiegel's definition, Iraq in 2003 should possibly have constituteda "complex emergency," as would Afghanistan. There would havebeen, by his definition, a reluctance to intervene in such crises.Complex emergencies may not be those that are merely politicallyrisky; they may instead be economically risky.

Southeast Asia houses production lines that are immediatelyrecognisable to the Western consumer,³ whereas sub-Saharan Africadoes not boast these. When a tsunami hits Asia, it is a disasterbecause, aside from the profound human loss, it is an economicdisaster too. Sudan's Darfur and . . . [Full text of this article]

Awori J Hayanga, surgery resident

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA jhayang1@jhmi.edu