BMJ  2008;336 (17 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39581.553924.47

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Responding to disasters

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

It can be hard to know how to respond to events as enormous as the cyclone in Burma (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39580.510683.DB) and the earthquake in China, beyond getting out one’s credit card. The BMJ’s immediate response, on the day after Cyclone Nargis swamped Burma’s coastal plain, was to re-emphasise on bmj.com that the last thing doctors should do is try to go out there themselves and help. The consensus on this, from experts in and outside affected countries, is impressive, as documented over the past few years in articles in the BMJ (2005;330:263, doi: 10.1136/bmj.330.7485.263; 2006;332:244, doi: 10.1136/bmj.332.7535.244; 2005;330:261, doi: 10.1136/bmj.330.7485.261-a). Of course this advice is now redundant in the face of the Burmese junta’s blanket refusal to allow any foreign aid workers into the country. And China, although now more open to outside influence, may decide it has enough internal resources to manage without help . . . [Full text of this article]

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