Edited by Jennifer Leaning, Susan M. Briggs, and Lincoln C. Chen. 379 pp. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1999. $45. ISBN 0-674-15515-7.
Among people in developed countries, there is a sense of obligationto provide assistance when large-scale crises occur in othercountries. Medical professionals are recruited by humanitarianorganizations in their own countries to give such assistancedirectly or to supervise it. Their objectivity, compassion,and familiarity with the political, economic, and communicationssystems in developed countries make them invaluable advocatesfor distressed populations. In Humanitarian Crises: The Medicaland Public Health Response, Leaning comments, "Medical professionalstaking care of patients in the setting of humanitarian crisiswork in channels of meaning and implication that few have beentrained to understand . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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