Terrible as that is, it is fewer than the number of children who, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, die every 10 days from avoidable, poverty-related causes. Moreover, as Elie Hassenfeld has argued on GiveWell.net, there are good grounds for thinking that disaster relief is less cost-effective than aid aimed at saving the lives of those who are risk from extreme poverty.
所有这一切都对我们如何回应 —— 以及应当如何回应 —— 这些灾难提出了许多问题。有 20 万人在这场地震中丧生，而即便伤亡如此重大，这个数字依然比联合国儿童基金会（ UNICEF ）统计的每 10 天中死于可以避免的，与贫困有关的儿童数量要少。此外，正如埃丽尔·哈森菲尔德在网站 GiveWell.com 所指出的那样，有理由相信灾害救助要比旨在从极端贫困中拯救生命的援助行为的费效比更低。