International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) is a non-partisan federation of national medical groups in 63 countries, representing doctors,
medical student
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...
s, other
health workers, and concerned people who share the goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world free from the threat of
nuclear annihilation
A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
. The organization's headquarters is in
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people.
History
Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...
. IPPNW was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
in 1985.
IPPNW affiliates are national medical organizations with a common commitment to the
abolition of nuclear weapons
Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to:
*Abolitionism, abolition of slavery
* Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment
*Abolition of monarchy
*Abolition of nuclear weapons
*Abolit ...
and the prevention of war. Affiliates range in size from a handful of dedicated physicians and medical students to tens of thousands of activists and their supporters. As independent organizations within a global federation, IPPNW affiliates engage in a wide variety of activities related to war, health,
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
, and
environmentalism
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...
.
History
IPPNW was founded in 1980 by physicians from the United States and the Soviet Union who shared a common commitment to the prevention of nuclear war between their two countries. Citing a principle of the medical profession—that doctors have an obligation to prevent what they cannot treat—a global federation of physician experts came together to explain the medical and scientific facts about nuclear war to policy makers and to the public, and to advocate for the elimination of nuclear weapons from the world's arsenals.
Founding co-presidents
Bernard Lown
Bernard Lown (June 7, 1921February 16, 2021) was a Lithuanian-American cardiologist and inventor. Lown was the original developer of the direct current defibrillator for cardiac resuscitation, and the cardioverter for correcting rapid disordered ...
of the United States and
Yevgeniy Chazov
Yevgeniy Ivanovich Chazov (russian: Евгений Иванович Чазов; 10 June 1929 – 12 November 2021) was a physician of the Soviet Union and Russia, specializing in cardiology, Chief of the Fourth Directorate of the ministry of hea ...
of the Soviet Union were joined by other early IPPNW leaders including Jim Muller,
Ioan Moraru of Romania,
Eric Chivian
Eric S. Chivian is the founder and director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHGE) at Harvard Medical School, where he is also an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry.
Life and career
A 1964 graduate of Harvard Universit ...
and Herb Abrams of the US and Mikhail Kuzin and Leonid Ilyin of the Soviet Union.
They organized a team to conduct scientific research based on data collected by Japanese colleagues who had studied the effects of the
atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and drew upon their knowledge of the medical effects of burn, blast, and
radiation injuries.
The doctors sounded a warning: that nuclear war would be the final epidemic; that there would be no cure and no meaningful medical response. Their message reached millions of people around the world. In the words of former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange, "IPPNW made medical reality a part of political reality."
In its first five years, IPPNW, working closely with its US affiliate
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a physician-led organization in the US working to protect the public from the threats of nuclear proliferation, climate change, and environmental toxins. It produces and disseminates publications, p ...
and IPPNW-Russia, educated health professionals, political leaders, and the public about the medical and environmental consequences of
nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear ...
. For this effort, which united physicians across the Cold War divide, IPPNW was awarded the
UNESCO Prize for Peace Education
The UNESCO Prize for Peace Education has been awarded annually since 1981. The main goal of UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting w ...
in 1984 and the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
in 1985.
The Nobel Committee, in its announcement of the award, said IPPNW "has performed a considerable service to mankind by spreading authoritative information and by creating an awareness of the catastrophic consequences of atomic warfare."
Although the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US and Russia retained thousands of nuclear weapons ready to launch.
Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...
and the threat of
nuclear terrorism
Nuclear terrorism refers to any person or persons detonating a nuclear weapon as an act of terrorism (i.e., illegal or immoral use of violence for a political or religious cause). Some definitions of nuclear terrorism include the sabotage of a ...
have added to the danger in the post-Cold-War world.
During the 1990s, IPPNW established an International Commission to Investigate the Health and Environmental Effects of Nuclear Weapons Production and Testing and worked with the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research to document these effects. The Commission produced a series of books including ''Radioactive Heaven and Earth'', ''Plutonium: The Deadly Gold of the Nuclear Age'', and ''Nuclear Wastelands'', a comprehensive study of the health and environmental impact of the global nuclear weapons production complex.
In October 2007, IPPNW and the Royal Society of Medicine co-sponsored a major conference in London to review the current state of knowledge about the effects of nuclear weapons. Scientific data on the global climate effects of regional nuclear war presented at that conference became the basis of an IPPNW project on "nuclear famine". The findings and an updated summary of the medical consequences of nuclear war are available in an IPPNW publication, ''Zero Is the Only Option: Four Medical and Environmental Cases for Eradicating Nuclear Weapons''.
In recent years, IPPNW and its affiliates have drawn new attention to the health and environmental effects of uranium mining and processing, conducting community health surveys in India and challenging Australia's plans to expand its uranium export industry. In 2010, the federation's international council passed a resolution calling for a global ban on uranium mining because of the dangers it poses to health and the environment.
IPPNW has also studied a nuclear danger within the medical profession—the use of highly enriched uranium in reactors that produce medical isotopes—and has campaigned for the conversion of those vulnerable reactors to non-weapons-grade uranium.
IPPNW launched the
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (abbreviated to ICAN, pronounced ) is a global civil society coalition working to promote adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The camp ...
(ICAN) in 2007, and is now the lead medical NGO campaigning for a global treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons, along with more than 200 humanitarian, environmental, human rights, peace and development organizations in more than 80 countries. ICAN went on to receive the 2017
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
for peace.
In the 1990s, IPPNW expanded its scope to address the continuum of armed violence that undermines health and security. IPPNW is committed to ending war and to addressing the causes of armed conflict from a public health perspective. The global campaign to ban landmines marked IPPNW's first major entry into the non-nuclear arena. The federation became engaged in addressing small arms violence in 2001 when it launched Aiming for Prevention, which has since broadened to include the public health dimensions of all types of armed violence. Aiming for Prevention has been driven by IPPNW affiliates from the global South—primarily Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia—whose members live and work in areas where armed violence is a constant threat and consumes significant portions of health care budgets.
As part of Aiming for Prevention, IPPNW participated in a broad-based global coalition of civil society organizations that campaigned successfully for passage of the
Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). IPPNW is an active participant in the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
's Violence Prevention Alliance, and coordinates the ''International Action Network on Small Arms'' (
IANSA) Public Health Network.
Public Health Network
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Continuing medical education courses in the emerging field of peace through health have been developed by IPPNW with university affiliates in Norway, Denmark, the UK, and Canada. IPPNW supports and encourages academic work to advance the understanding of the interconnections between peace and health.
See also
*Anti-nuclear organizations
Anti-nuclear organizations may oppose uranium mining, nuclear power, and/or nuclear weapons. Anti-nuclear groups have undertaken public protests and acts of civil disobedience which have included occupations of nuclear plant sites. Some of the mo ...
* International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons
*List of anti-war organizations
In order to facilitate organized, determined, and principled opposition to the wars, people have often founded anti-war organizations. These groups range from temporary coalitions which address one war or pending war, to more permanent structured ...
*List of books about nuclear issues
This is a list of books about nuclear issues. They are non-fiction books which relate to uranium mining, nuclear weapons and/or nuclear power.
*''The Algebra of Infinite Justice'' (2001)
*'' American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J ...
*List of films about nuclear issues
This is a list of films about nuclear issues:
Documentary films
* ''Ashes to Honey''
* '' The Atom Strikes!''
* ''The Atomic Cafe''
* '' Atomic Ed and the Black Hole''
* '' Atomic Power''
* '' The Bomb (2015)''
* '' Chernobyl Heart''
* ''Command ...
*List of peace activists
This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...
*'' Nuclear Weapons: The Road to Zero''
* Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
References
External links
*
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War records
Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
*
{{Authority control
Organizations awarded Nobel Peace Prizes
*
Anti–nuclear weapons movement
Anti–nuclear power movement
Peace organizations based in the United States
Organizations established in 1980