Statement of the IPPNW Executive Committee issued 17 December 2021
The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) is deeply concerned about the current tensions between NATO, Ukraine and Russia. There is an acute danger of war which could easily escalate into a nuclear war.
Recognizing the security needs of Russia, Ukraine as well as those of the EU is vital. Military maneuvers close to the Russian and Ukrainian borders, and arms deliveries to Ukraine, must be stopped immediately.
Read more…Evgeny Chazov: 1929-2021
IPPNW’s founding co-president Dr. Evgeny Chazov died on 12 November in Moscow at the age of 92. News of his death, along with a profile of his life and scientific accomplishments, appeared in TASS, Russia’s largest news agency. Earlier this year, IPPNW lost our other founding co-president, Dr. Bernard Lown, who died on February 16 in Boston.
Together, the two longtime friends and fellow cardiologists forged a partnership with other Soviet and American physicians to sound a global warning that the only medical response to a nuclear war is to prevent one from happening. The launch of IPPNW in 1980 was a courageous experiment to set aside the bitter geo-political differences between their two countries, in order to speak with one voice about the necessary goal of abolishing nuclear weapons.
Read more…The bad and the good at crunch time for humanity
“The international security situation is now more dangerous than it has ever been, even at the height of the Cold War” stated the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in setting the Doomsday Clock in 2020 at 100 seconds to midnight, further forward than it has ever been before. This year, the clock remains at 100 seconds to midnight. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ Our Common Agenda report to the UN General Assembly in September makes clear: “humanity faces a stark and urgent choice: a breakdown or a breakthrough. … The choice is ours to make; but we will not have this chance again.”
The goal of this year’s COP26 UN climate change conference is clear: “The world needs to halve emissions over the next decade and reach net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century if we are to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.” Yet the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions is still upward. The COVID-19 pandemic, of moderate severity by historical standards, has caused about 5 million recorded deaths to date and exposed deep faultlines of inequity in vaccine access, which by mid-2021 saw only 3% of people in Africa having received any dose of a vaccine. Associated with the pandemic, in 2020 an estimated 124 million people were pushed into extreme poverty, and the number of people worldwide who did not have access to adequate food increased by 320 million to 2.37 billion, almost one in three people in the world. Early estimates suggest a possible increase of up to 45% in child mortality because of health service shortfalls and reduced access to food.
In an increasingly climate stressed world, since 2010, the number of non-state armed conflicts has increased more than fourfold, as has and the number of armed conflicts involving nations outside the area of conflict – many nuclear-armed – with attendant risks of nuclear escalation. If ever there was a time for nations to collaborate to address the urgent complex global challenges that require cooperative solutions, that time is now.
Read more…IPPNW statement on how WHO could advance the planetary health imperative to eradicate nuclear weapons
IPPNW was pleased to have the opportunity for the first time to make a statement to the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region Committee on how WHO could advance the planetary health imperative to eradicate nuclear weapons.
Statement to WHO WPRO Regional Committee Meeting, Oct 2021 by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
Presented by Tilman Ruff, Co-President 18 Oct 21
The WHA’s response to WHO’s first 1983 report on “The effects of nuclear war on health and health services” concluded that: “nuclear weapons constitute the greatest immediate threat to the health and welfare of [hu]mankind.” The second 1987 report underscored that: “It is obvious that the health services in the world could not alleviate the situation in any significant way” and “Therefore the only approach to the treatment of health effects of nuclear warfare is primary prevention, that is, the prevention of nuclear war.” It discussed then new scientific findings that after nuclear war, global cooling would create unprecedented famine and disease epidemics.
Read more…Passing the torch
Joint statement of Russian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Physicians for Social Responsibility-USA
National affiliates of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
To the Health Professionals of the World,
We write as Russian and American physicians – young and old – to describe the passing of the torch of our four-decade international effort to protect the life and health of humanity. The creation of nuclear weapons has resulted in a permanent threat to civilization that will require management by all future generations. Our meeting today of new and senior physician-activists, in Moscow and in Boston, is an essential component of our duty to train each new generation of health professionals.
Read more…Why is US military spending increasing to new, outlandish levels?
Although critics of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan to increase funding for US education, healthcare, and action against climate catastrophe say the United States can’t afford it, there are no such qualms about ramping up funding for the US military.
This May, the Pentagon asked Congress to fund a $715 billion budget for Fiscal 2022—an increase of $10 billion over the previous year. Together with another $38 billion requested for military-related programs at other government agencies, this would bring total US military spending to $753 billion.
Read more…Nuclear power has no place in a healthy, sustainable future
IPPNW statement for COP26 UN Climate Change Conference 2021
[The following statement has been signed by IPPNW’s co-presidents on behalf of the Executive Committee.]
The goal of this year’s COP26 UN climate change conference is clear: “The world needs to halve emissions over the next decade and reach net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century if we are to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.” Yet the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions is still upward. UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Our Common Agenda report to the UN General Assembly last month makes clear: “humanity faces a stark and urgent choice: a breakdown or a breakthrough. … The choice is ours to make; but we will not have this chance again.”
It is crunch time for humanity. We have already entered an era of escalating impacts from global overheating. We need to lower greenhouse gas emissions now.
Imagine a world with US-China cooperation
On September 10, 2021, during an important diplomatic meeting that occurred by telephone, US President Joseph Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping affirmed the necessity of a better relationship between their two nations. According to the official Chinese summary, Xi said that “when China and the United States cooperate, the two countries and the world will benefit; when China and the United States are in confrontation, the two countries and the world will suffer.” He added: “Getting the relationship right is . . . something we must do and must do well.”
At the moment, however, the governments of the two nations seem far from a cooperative relationship. Indeed, intensely suspicious of one another, the United States and China are increasing their military spending, developing new nuclear weapons, engaging in heated quarrels over territorial issues, and sharpening their economic competition. Disputes over the status of Taiwan and the South China Sea are particularly likely flashpoints for war.
Read more…The fate of Cassandra: dire predictions go unheeded
In ancient Greek mythology, Cassandra was a priestess who was able to predict the future but unable to convince others to act upon her prophecies.
The fate of Cassandra seems particularly relevant today, for there has been ample warning about three developments that threaten continued human existence—preparations for nuclear war, climate change, and disease pandemics—without, however, adequate measures being taken to safeguard human survival.
Ever since the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945, prophetic voices have warned of doom if the world does not ban nuclear weapons. And yet, the nine nuclear powers are currently engaged in a new nuclear arms race to build ever faster, more devastating weapons that, if used, will annihilate nearly all life on earth.
Read more…Bold action needed on nuclear weapons
An open letter from local, county, and state officials to President Joe Biden and the US Congress
[The following letter to US President Joe Biden and Members of the US Congress was signed by more than 300 local elected officials from 41 states in the US. The complete list of signatories, including mayors, state legislators, city council members, and others, will be found on the PDF of the letter, which was organized by the Back From the Brink campaign.]
September 23, 2021
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
The White House
Washington, DC
Members of Congress
Washington, DC
Dear President Biden and Members of Congress:
We join together to urge bold action and U.S. leadership in the pursuit of global, verifiable nuclear
disarmament and concrete policy steps to reduce and eliminate the severe danger nuclear
weapons pose to each and every one of our constituents – and all of humanity.
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 