End nuclear weapons, before they end us, warn experts
BMJ Group has joined health journals across the world to publish an editorial urging governments to restore a World Health Organization (WHO) mandate to address the health consequences of nuclear weapons and war – and support a new UN study on the effects of nuclear war.
Authors include leading health experts, journal editors, and senior figures from the Nobel-prizewinning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
The vote on re-establishing such a mandate will take place at the World Health Assembly in Geneva next week.
The editorial warns that, while the numbers of nuclear weapons are down to 12,331 now, from their 1986 peak of 70,300, this is still equivalent to 146,605 Hiroshima bombs and does not mean humanity is any safer.
If the vote succeeds, WHO would re-establish a programme of work on this most critical threat to health and be able to lead strongly in providing the best health evidence to the UN panel, explain the authors.
They warn that a worldwide nuclear arms race is underway – and say the world desperately needs the leaders of nuclear-armed states and their allies “to freeze their arsenals, end the modernisation and development of new, more dangerous nuclear weapons, and ensure that new technology such as artificial intelligence can never trigger the launch of nuclear weapons.”
Health professionals are well aware how crucial accurate and up-to-date evidence is to making good decisions, they write.
“The UN scientific panel and a renewed mandate for WHO’s work in this area can provide vital authoritative and up-to-date evidence for health and public education, evidence based advocacy and policies, and the mobilised public concern needed to trigger decisive political leadership.”
“This is a core health imperative for all of us,” they conclude.
[Ends]
Notes for Editors
Editorial: Ending nuclear weapons, before they end us doi: 10.1136/bmj.r881
Public link: https://www.bmj.com/content/
A full list of journals publishing the editorial can be found here
The post Over 130 health journals call for renewed WHO mandate on health effects of nuclear war first appeared on BMJ Group.
