Leading Article: Time now to help others

THERE IS a logical corollary to Douglas Hurd's self-justificatory phrase about the dramatic evacuation from Sarajevo of Irma Hadzimuratovic: 'Because you can't help everybody doesn't mean you shouldn't help somebody.' It is that: 'If you can help somebody, you can help others.'

United Nations aid workers in Sarajevo were quick to make the point yesterday. Stung by accusations that their own bureaucratic procedures had delayed Irma's rescue, they pointed out that there were currently 41 cases of wounded Sarajevans who had been cleared for evacuation, but for whom there had been no offers of help from outside governments.

One of them is an eight-year-old boy with injuries very similar to Irma's. Because his case was not dramatised by the world's media, he remains in the besieged city. To qualify, potential evacuees must suffer from injuries or an illness that cannot be treated in Sarajevo's own hospitals, and be strong enough to be likely to survive the journey. In the 16 months of the conflict, 183 people have been evacuated from Sarajevo, a pathetically small total.

There were hopeful signs yesterday, in Dublin as well as London, that Irma's case may encourage a broader effort to evacuate the wounded and sick from Bosnia and to make beds available on a regular basis. It was media and public pressure that prompted Irma's rescue and at the same time greatly raised public awareness of the appalling situation in Sarajevo's hospitals. That concern and compassion offers a sound basis on which Western governments can and should build. Britain is well placed to give a strong lead.

The first aim should be to secure evacuation for far more cases. Their well- publicised arrival in different capitals would be a moving and continuous reminder of the horror of the Bosnian conflict. Sarajevo's airfield remains operative, despite periodic brief closures. Transport planes bringing in desperately needed supplies could take out those who qualify, including those brought in by helicopter from other stricken cities.

All that is needed is a willingness by Western governments to pay any additional transport costs - and, a major stumbling block, the cost of medical treatment. Some governments have even expected the UN to pay this, in advance.

The numbers requiring evacuation would be cut if more were done to improve the supply of medicines and equipment to Bosnia's hospitals. Where sophisticated equipment exists, in many instances it cannot be used either because it needs to be repaired, or because (as in Sarajevo) no power is available, nor even the diesel needed to run a generator. Such major deficiencies can only be made good when the main overland supply routes are restored and safe: French and Canadian engineers were yesterday attempting to unblock one of the two main lifelines into Sarajevo.

Despite saturation-level exposure, the public's capacity to respond to emotive images remains remarkable. For all the harrowing material that has come out of Bosnia and a high level of public awareness of its people's suffering, those television and newspaper images of a stricken five-year-old girl generated a rare degree of collective emotion: one strong enough to push the Prime Minister into action. That impetus should not be wasted.