Windows of Opportunity after a Disaster: The Case of Sri Lanka

Natural or man-made disasters occur regularly, bringing destruction and death. Devastating effects of a large-scale disaster is felt more strongly among vulnerable populations, especially in developing countries.

In December 2004, a powerful tsunami stuck the shores of many Southeast Asian and South Asian countries. The five-year anniversary of this terrible tragedy was a main theme in global media coverage. Sri Lanka was one of the worst affected countries in the Asian region with an estimated 40,000 deaths and many thousands of people losing families, loved ones, houses and livelihoods.

Half a decade later, it can be said that this vast tragedy had opened “windows of opportunity” in improving many neglected areas in the developing nation of Sri Lanka. The sudden and vicious impact of this disaster challenged society, healthcare and the coping ability of the whole nation. However, the natural resilience of the population in the face of adversity acted as a strong protective factor. During the rebuilding and reconstruction phase in five years, houses and businesses have been rebuilt, livelihoods have been resurrected, and schools and other administrative apparatus have been re-established.  In addition, developments in other disaster-related and non-related areas such as healthcare, disaster mitigation, forensic science, bioethics and disaster research have taken place.

Many clinical interventions and research projects were initiated and carried out after the tsunami by local and international researchers. Some of them were needed and brought help while some were not needed and one-sided in the context of only serving researcher agendas. Only some of the research was carried out adhering to international ethical guidelines while a majority was not. Even the ones that were carried out according to international norms were locally inappropriate in certain situations. This led to variable exploitation of the population already made vulnerable by being victims of the tsunami, and enabled “parachute researchers” from mainly western countries to conduct research without proper ethical standards.