News and Events

The Fukushima nuclear disaster: 8 years on
IPPNW co-president Tilman Ruff writes that "eight years after the world’s most complex nuclear disaster, the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants and spent fuel ponds are still leaking and dangerous, vast amounts of contaminated water continue to accumulate, 8,000 odd clean-up workers labour daily and will need to for many decades, the needs of people exposed to radioactivity are still neglected, no one is in prison for a disaster fundamentally caused by the negligence of the operator and the government, and most of the lessons of Fukushima have yet to heeded." Dr. Ruff calls for continued international monitoring of health needs related to the disaster, and increased efforts to address public and environmental health consequences.Full text of article. (March 11, 2019)

India and Pakistan: a plea for sanity
In a new commentary just published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, IPPNW co-president Arun Mitra, Dr. Zulfiqar A Bhutta of Pakistan, and Lancet editor Richard Horton warn that the escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan is “a matter of urgent public health concern” and call on both countries to pursue “diplomacy, dialogue, and the promotion of person to person contact and engagement between civil society representatives and youth.”Full text of article. (March 11, 2019)

Kashmir conflict risks nuclear war
IPPNW calls on India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to take immediate steps to deescalate the tensions in the disputed Kashmir region and to reduce the grave danger of nuclear war. Co-president Ira Helfand, warned that an exchange of nuclear weapons between the two countries would not only quickly kill millions in the region, but would cause “an unprecedented global catastrophe.” Arun Mitra, IPPNW’s Indian co-president said, “India and Pakistan must end their border clash before it engulfs the world. Leaders from both sides must sit down to finally resolve their issues peacefully at the negotiating table and to take immediate steps to reduce and eliminate the threat that their nuclear weapons pose to all humanity.” Full text of IPPNW statement. (February 27, 2019)

Red Cross urges world to “decide the future of nuclear weapons before they decide ours”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have launched a new global video campaign about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of a nuclear war. The goal is to encourage people to urge their governments to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Among the materials is a new video designed to engage “millennials” with the issue. (February 19, 2019)

New issue of Vital Signs
The October 2018 issue of Vital Signs includes updates on the Ban Treaty ratification process, Aiming for Prevention, and global affiliate and student activities. The issue features an interview with Iranian affiliate activist Dr. Leila Moein. (November 27, 2018)

IPPNW urges JCPOA parties to adhere to Iran agreement despite US withdrawal
The national affiliates of IPPNW in France, Germany, and the UK, and IPPNW's international leadership, have appealed to officials in the three governments to stand by the agreement that they made with Iran on their nuclear program. In a letter to President Macron, Chancellor Merkel, and Prime Minister May, reprinted here, IPPNW has urged the leaders to continue working closely with Iran's government to ensure the obligations of the agreement continue to be met by all remaining parties to it.(June 18, 2018)

Global health leaders rally behind the Ban Treaty
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Medical Association have issued important and very timely calls for states to join and implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Learn more about their statements and read the texts on the Peace and Health Blog. (April 30, 2018)

L'histoire d'une survivante d'une bombe atomique
Dr. Nanao Kamada, a board member of IPPNW-Japan, has completed a French version of his book "One Day in Hiroshima," an oral history of a Hiroshima survivor, drawn from interviews about her life after the US atomic bombing of that city on August 6, 1945. (April 13, 2018)

A gold-plated blueprint for nuclear war
The Trump Nuclear Posture Review endorses nuclear weapons as the gold standard for US security, and offers nuclear deterrence as an unquestionable article of faith. The nuclear weapons programs, priorities, and budgets outlined in the 2018 NPR are mostly carry overs from previous administrations, with the additions of a “low-yield” submarine-launched ballistic missile and a sub-launched cruise missile. But an enthusiasm for (US) nuclear weapons pervades this document, which IPPNW co-president Tilman Ruff has called “a blueprint for nuclear war.” The Ban Treaty prohibits nuclear weapons because the evidence proves they undermine everyone's security and threaten everyone with extinction. It condemns nuclear deterrence as a kind of global hostage taking with inevitable, catastrophic consequences. The Ban Treaty and the NPR can't co-exist, any more than humanity itself can continue to co-exist with nuclear weapons. Read more on the Peace and Health Blog. (February 12, 2018)