There is no coming back from nuclear war
[IPPNW Co-President Carlos Umaña delivered the opening address to the 24th World Congress in Nagasaki on 2 October. The complete text of his remarks follows.]
We gather in this city of memory and resilience—as physicians, scholars, and advocates—united by our unwavering dedication to peace. Not a passive peace, but one rooted in justice, evidence, and collective responsibility. A peace that demands courage. Nagasaki is not just a place on the map. It is a moral compass. Eighty years ago, this city bore witness to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war. Today, it calls us to conscience. It reminds us that silence is complicity, and that remembrance must be paired with action.
Read more…[The 24th IPPNW World Congress takes place in Nagasaki from 2-4 October. Following is an account of a trip to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by IPPNW’s Norwegian affiliate and other Norwegian activists in August to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombings of those cities.]
by Knut Mork Skagen
August 6, Hiroshima
I have travelled from Norway together with colleagues from IPPNW Norway, ICAN, and two of our labour politicians, one MP and one representative from the Workers’ Youth League (AUF). Japan has just had its hottest July on record, and Hiroshima is heavy with humidity and heat. The climate-nuclear nexus is on full display.
Read more…Cycling for world peace from Hiroshima to Nagasaki
[What follows is a day-by-day account of the 542-kilometer IPPNW Bike Tour from Hiroshima to Nagasaki, in advance of the 24th IPPNW World Congress, which opens in Nagasaki on 1 October with a Student Congress and leadership meetings. The reports were posted each day by Dr. Bimal Khadka, an IPPNW board member from Nepal and a former student leader.]
20 September
21 participants from 9 different countries gathered today in Hiroshima for IPPNW BIKETOUR.
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If one examines Donald Trump’s approach to world affairs since his entry into American politics, it should come as no surprise that he has worked to undermine the United Nations.
The United Nation is based on international cooperation, as well as on what the UN Charter calls “the equal rights . . . of nations large and small.” It seeks to end “the scourge of war” and to “promote social progress” for the people of the world.
Read more…Reflections from Outgoing Student Representatives
by Walusungu (Walu) Mtonga and Stella Ziegler, IPPNW Student Board Members
IPPNW’s student network will hold elections for International Student Representative (ISR) during the upcoming Student Congress in Nagasaki, Japan. Learn more here.
Walu
It’s been an absolute privilege to serve as Co-International Student Representative (ISR) for IPPNW the last 2 and a half years alongside Stella Ziegler, representing the voices of IPPNW students on the international governing board and connecting with students from around the world.
Read more…Eighty years of nuclear terror
Ever since the atomic bombings of Japanese cities in August 1945, the world has been living on borrowed time.
The indications, then and since, that the development of nuclear weapons did not bode well for human survival, were clear enough. The two small atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed between 110,000 and 210,000 people and wounded many others, almost all of them civilians. In subsequent years, hundreds of thousands more people around the world lost their lives thanks to the radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing, while substantial numbers also died from the mining of uranium for the building of nuclear weapons.
Read more…At a time when international cooperation provides the key to preventing a variety of global calamities―including nuclear war, climate catastrophe, and massive starvation―it’s tragic that major nations, ruled by nationalist, rightwing parties, are on a collision course with the organizations that represent the international community.
Read more…by Kati Juva
Educating people about the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war has been the mission of IPPNW since it’s foundation. We have always regarded the threat of nuclear war as a health issue, without regard to international politics.
This view has been shared widely among health professionals and health organisations. The World Medical Association (WMA) and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) have made strong statements against nuclear weapons. In the 1980s, the WHO published a thorough report on the impacts of nuclear war on health and health services.
Read more…We need to end nuclear weapons, before they end us
by Chris Zielinski, Andy Haines, and Tilman Ruff
At the World Health Assembly in Geneva, 86 countries recently voted in favour of the World Health Organization (WHO) re-engaging with nuclear weapons as a health issue.
The vote, on 26 May, followed more than a year of advocacy. An initial proposal tabled by international Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) was followed by energetic action by IPPNW and a number of key countries, including Pacific Island nations and Kazakhstan.
This work was supported by an editorial published in medical journals around the world, with the official backing of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
Read more…Double standards and nuclear weapons
by Kati Juva
Nowhere are double standards and hypocrisy more evident than in relation to Israel and its nuclear policy. The only nuclear power in the Middle East has been allowed to carry out genocide in Gaza and bomb a sovereign state with impunity. There is no talk of economic sanctions or ending arms sales. There are barely any muted calls to stop the destruction of the Palestinians, and the bombing of Iran has even been cheered in many places.
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Bimal Khadka
Bjorn Hilt
Charles K. Johnson
Gunnar Westberg
IPPNW
John Loretz
Lawrence Wittner
Maria Valenti
mollymcgint
Sue Wareham
Tilman Ruff
Tim Wright
Xanthe Hall
IPPNW peace and health blog 