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Tuesday, 22. October 2024

Press release, Gaza

Preserve humanity, respect international law, ceasefire now!

IPPNW open letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres

Following the vote in the UN General Assembly yesterday and the intensification of the bombing of Gaza, the Co-Presidents of the medical peace organisation IPPNW have written to António Guterres expressing their support for his work and the speech he gave in the UN Security Council on October 13th. IPPNW applauds the UNGA resolution for a humanitarian truce in Gaza and calls together with half a million signatories of the "Ceasefire Now" petition for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel.

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04/30/2023 At the 23rd World Congress in Mombasa from 26th until 30th of April 2023 the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) discussed the risks and impending consequences of the current, crisis situation on our planet. Under the title "Disarmament, Climate Crisis and Health", IPPNW physicians discussed joint possibilities for action and strategies for action. More than 180 physicians and medical students from all over the world adopted a joint final declaration for a peaceful and just world for all people.

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04/13/2023 On April 13th 2023, IPPNW co-chair Ira Helfand received the prestigious "Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builders' Prize" from Morehouse College. 

"The prize is awarded annually to an individual who promotes peace and positive social transformation through non-violent means. These individuals use their global leadership to affirm peace, justice, diversity and pluralism."


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Nobel Peace Laureates Statement

Citizens of the world are against war and nuclear weapons

03/16/2022 12 Nobel Peace Laureates, including IPPNW, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), The Dalai Lama und others, call for an immediate ceasfire and the withdrawal of all Russian military forces from Ukraine. In addition they call for Russia and NATO to explicitly renounce any use of nuclear weapons in this conflict and to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

03/11/2022 IPPNW Germany condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and welcomes the UN General Assembly resolution of March 2, 2022 calling for an end to Putin's aggression. The physicians' organisation calls upon the German government to work towards peace, to avoid escalation, and to cancel rearmament programmes for the German military.

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Statement, 24.02.2022

Protect Life and Prevent Harm

Joint Statement of International and European Student Representatives of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)

02/24/2022 The International and European Student Representatives of IPPNW are devastated and shocked by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. As medical students and young doctors, we are trained to protect life and prevent harm. We stand in solidarity with Ukrainian and Russian civilians who did not ask for this war. We call for an immediate cease-fire, respect for international humanitarian and human rights law.

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Online Event, 19. Feb 2022

War in Eastern Europe

On the Brink of a Humanitarian Disaster

The crisis in Eastern Europe could become a regional and global humanitarian catastrophe if war involving nuclear-armed nations erupts in Ukraine. IPPNW will hold an emergency briefing on February 19, 2022, from 16:00-17:00 CET with a distinguished panel of experts to examine the terrible human cost if diplomacy fails. Topics include:

  • Impact of conventional war
  • Damage to nuclear power reactors
  • Escalation to nuclear weapons use
Press release, 14.02.2022

Medical Appeal: No war in Europe

290 health professionals from Europe and elsewhere in the world have published an appeal today, initiated by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), calling for war in Europe to be averted. Warning that a war would be a humanitarian disaster, they call on all conflict parties to choose diplomacy over escalation.

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Medical Appeal

No War in Europe

Medical professionals call for diplomacy to avert a humanitarian disaster

02/07/2022 Doctors and other health professionals in Europe take their responsibility for preventive action to save lives very seriously. The pandemic has shown how much effort they are prepared to put into this task. Yet another medical emergency is brewing in Europe that must be avoided.  If the correct action is taken now, we can avert war – and the humanitarian disaster that it will inevitably bring – by choosing diplomacy over further escalation.

Paradigm change needed to address the current crisis in Ukraine, Russia and NATO

Statement of the IPPNW Executive Committee issued 17 December 2021

12/17/2021 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.

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IPPNW joint statement

Proposed US/UK nuclear-powered submarines for Australia jeopardise health while escalating an arms race no one can win

Joint statement by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and its affiliates in Australia, UK and USA

09/21/2021 Physicians in the countries involved in the proposal announced on 16 September for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines with UK and US assistance are concerned this plan will jeopardise global health and security. Under this proposal, Australia would become the seventh country to use nuclear propulsion for its military vessels, and the first state to do so which does not possess nuclear weapons, or nuclear power reactors.

Article from Dr. Angelika Claußen

Global disarmament to protect the climate

Medicine, Conflict and Survival

09/09/2021 Climate Change not only intensifes existing conflicts; wars and military interventions are at the same time extremely harmful to the climate. Disarmament can therefore not only reduce emissions from arms production, but also free up financial ressources for climate protection. Governments worldwid should focus on a more sustainable security policy.

Medact article, May 18th 2021

Palestine On Strike – Solidarity statement on events in Palestine

05/18/2021 Today, starting from 18 May, Palestinians across Palestine – including Palestinian citizens of Israel – are participating in a General Strike in an act of popular resistance in response to escalating Israeli political and military aggression.

We stand in solidarity with people in Palestine and in the diaspora who are resisting this aggression and decades of occupation and displacement. And we call on the UK government to apply pressure on Israel to end the air strikes, and immediately impose a two-way arms embargo with Israel.

On the Violence in Israel and Palestine

Statement by our partners in the region

IPPNW endorses the statement by our partners in the region, the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), and echoes their call for immediate ceasefire:

"We denounce the evictions of people from their homes. We denounce the occupation of territories. We denounce those who launch rockets, drones, missiles and airstrikes against civilians anywhere across the region. We denounce those who build walls to divide people instead of bridges to connect them. We denounce those who kill civilians under state approval or otherwise. We denounce those who take advantage of a lawless situation for their own selfish interests. We denounce the dehumanisation of people of different backgrounds allowing for them to be "exterminated" as if they were vermin. And more than anything else, we denounce the foreign powers who over 100 years ago drew straight lines all over a map to demarcate their areas of interest and who have been interfering in our region ever since with wars, flooding our region with weapons, stealing our resources and murdering our people in their millions."

40 years of IPPNW

Celebrating 40 Years of IPPNW Leadership

12/15/2020 Forty years ago, a small group of visionary physicians gathered at the Hotel Le Richemond in Geneva from 5-7 December to lay the foundation for what is now IPPNW.  At this initial meeting of IPPNW founders, American physicians Bernard Lown, James Muller, and Eric Chivian and Soviet physicians Evgeny Chazov, Leonid Illyin, and Mikhail Kuzin resolved to set politics and ideology aside in order to address the greatest threat to human life of all time. Thus was born IPPNW's tireless effort to eradicate nuclear weapons. As we mark our 40th year of activism for a world without nuclear weapons, we also look forward to celebrating the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 22 January 2021 – one of our most significant milestones yet.

Medact - Article by Thusiyan Nandakumar, Oct. 16th 2020

Sri Lanka’s militarised coronavirus containment has grave consequences

10/16/2020 As states around the world continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, fears are mounting in many places for already disenfranchised and vulnerable communities. In Sri Lanka, a region that has been torn by decades of ethnic conflict and suffers from continued reports of human rights abuses, those fears have been particularly accentuated for the most oppressed on the island, as a spike of infections were reported this month. The government, headed by strongman and accused war criminal president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has taken on a markedly authoritarian approach to dealing with the crisis. And with coronavirus cases rising once more, that has worryingly placed human rights at further risk.

Dailyhunt, May 18, 2020

Time to transfer funds from weapons to making of vaccines

Article by Arun Mitra (IDPD)

05/18/2020 The world is seized with tackling COVID-19 which is being perceived as biggest health threat to the humanity today. True, this virus is more lethal than other Corona viruses. There is an all out effort by the scientists around the world to develop vaccines to boost immunity in the body to enable it to fight back the infection. The world is hoping that soon we shall develop herd immunity so that the impact of COVID-19 gets reduced. Scientists and medical professionals have warned from time to time about various diseases and cautioned about the imminent health emergencies. They have also guided about the steps to be taken to prevent such happenings. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) has warned the global community about a highly grave threat to humanity for which we have no remedy. This is from the nuclear weapons. The use of nuclear weapons would be the final epidemic. Prevention is the only way out as we do not have any remedy to offer in such an eventuality.

Medact podcast

The arms industry in the era of COVID-19: lessons for the future

05/11/2020 Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic reached the UK, it became clear that the NHS was not sufficiently equipped or staffed to respond to the crisis. In March, the government put out a call for industry to convert its production to manufacture crucial medical equipment, such as ventilators and PPE for frontline workers. To date, a number of arms and defence companies have responded to this call – alongside existing companies that manufacture medical equipment and others. Workers at Lucas Aerospace called for exactly this kind of arms conversion back in 1976, when they produced an Alternative Corporate Plan – now known as the Lucas Plan. In this webinar we discussed what a ‘just transition’ from industries that cause destruction to those that support peace and public health could and should look like.

Medact - Article by Aiyan Maharsingam

From exclusion to international solidarity

The public health case for lifting trade sanctions in the face of COVID-19

05/05/2020 COVID-19 has brought into the public consciousness the inherent interconnectedness of public health globally. When public health is threatened in one country or amongst one community, the ripple effects are felt across the world. Despite this, some countries that have or may be heavily impacted by the pandemic have not met with support from the international community. Amongst these, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela continue to face US-led sanctions programmes, whilst the Israeli Government has enforced a blockade of the Gaza Strip for the last 13 years. Sanctions have been weakening the public health systems of these countries for decades and, if they are not lifted, they will have grave impacts on their ability to tackle COVID-19. But sanctions also represent a threat to the global struggle to treat the pandemic: with nations imposing them failing to realise that the global community must be united to minimise the spread of COVID-19.

01/28/2020 The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) expresses deep concern at the Prime Minister's statement that it will not take more than 10 days to defeat our neighbor (Pakistan). This statement at a time when many areas of the world are engulfed in conflicts leading to serious humanitarian consequences is uncalled for. South Asia is one of the most deprived region.

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01/16/2020 As you make your plans for 2020, you don’t want to miss IPPNW’s first congress in Africa May 25-29th, followed by an amazing African safari.
The congress will host three days of plenaries and workshops on topics such as nuclear weapons and health; climate justice; militarism, development and health; and energy choices in Africa.

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The Lancet editorial on Kashmir

Letter of support from Medact

01/13/2020 In August 2019, the Indian government announced that it was revoking Article 370 of the Indian Constitution concerning Jammu and Kashmir. This Article granted special status to the region that gave it limited autonomy – such as its own constitution, a separate flag and the ability to form its own laws. Shortly after this announcement on 17 August 2019, The Lancet published an editorial, Fear and uncertainty around Kashmir’s future, outlining “the concerns for the health, safety, and freedoms of the Kashmiri people”, the impacts of ongoing violence and conflict on health, and the human rights violations taking place.  In collaboration with the People’s Health Movement North America and the People’s Health Movement UK, we sent the following letter to The Lancet expressing our support for their publication of this important editorial.

Read more on medact.org

01/08/2020 IPPNW condemns the deliberate and calculated murder of Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani by US forces in Iraq. The killing of Gen. Suleimani in a drone strike authorized by the US President was not only a violation of international law and of long-standing US policy prohibiting assassinations of foreign officials, it has also further inflamed an already volatile region. A war between the US and Iran would have disastrous results and must be prevented.

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Health should not be a victim of political Machinations

Press conference by Dr Arun Mitra on health situation in Kashmir

10/11/2019 Healthcare is a fundamental right of every citizen. Under no circumstances it should become victim particularly under politically made situation. There have been several reports about health care problems in the Kashmir valley after imposition of curbs on 5th August 2019. Dr Arun Mitra, Co-President International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear war (IPPNW) a Nobel Peace Prize winning organization in 1985 and then in 2017 as a partner in International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and Senior Vice President Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) visited the Kashmir valley in this regard to assess the health care situation there after imposition of curbs.

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For me it all began with a bet

Dr. Lars Pohlmeier on the fall of the Berlin Wall

10/03/2019 Thirty years ago the Berlin Wall fell. That was the source of my political optimism to abolish nuclear weapons.
In September 1989, I was standing right in the center of Berlin in front of “Checkpoint Charlie,” which was one of the checkpoints between the so-called Soviet Sector and the American Sector in the divided city of Berlin. Several dozens of kilometers of wall divided East and West Berlin and also surrounded the Western part of Berlin.

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End the cycle of violence: 270 health workers take action against UK DSEI Arms Fair

Medact sending a letter protesting the DSEI arms fair

07/05/2019 We sent our letter protesting the DSEI arms fair to the UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss on 3rd September – co-signed by 270 health workers.

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No new war in the Middle East

Allegations against Iran

06/16/2019 The medical peace organization IPPNW Germany calls on the German government to urgently work with other EU states towards a deescalation between the USA and Iran. The German Federal Government has to reject unequivocally any form of German participation in a military intervention against Iran. The US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, the US sanctions and the massive US military presence in the Persian Gulf increase the danger of a military confrontation.

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Social Media Campaign

No War on Iran

05/24/2019 The situation between the USA and Iran is worrying. Donald Trump has threatened Iran via Twitter, the Iranian foreign minister sharply criticised the US president. Although both sides currently appear to be verbally relying on de-escalation, the situation is extremely tense as a result of the further tightening of sanctions and the US military presence in the Persian Gulf. In this situation, IPPNW wants t send a signal for peace against the threat of war. A social media campaign has been set up and coordinated between IPPNW Germany and PSR-Iran.

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PSR Comment

Physicians for Social Responsibility Opposes War with Iran

05/21/2019 Washington, D.C. —  In light of recent statements by National Security Advisor John Bolton and others in the Trump administration and military regarding potential escalation of a conflict with Iran, Physicians for Social Responsibility issued the following comment:

As an organization of medical and health professionals and advocates who mobilize on the greatest threats to human health and survival, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) unequivocally opposes any attempt to escalate conflict or engage in war with Iran. The United States and Iran both have a vested interest in avoiding war. Declaring war is the purview of Congress, and PSR urges all Members of Congress to exercise their solemn duty to protect our nation’s interests and prevent war with Iran.

The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) expresses serious concern at the tension developing between US and Iran. Latest reports of withdrawal of US citizens from Iraq raise fear of impending war in the region. In the statement Dr Arun Mitra, Co-President International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and Senior Vice President IDPD, Dr S S Soodan-President IDPD and Dr Shakeel Ur Rahman-General Secretary IDPD said that aggressive postures by the US are uncalled for.

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Medact, March 08, 2019

War, violence and the mental health crisis in Kashmir

03/08/2019 As tensions continue to rise in Kashmir after the Pulwama terror attack of February 2019 where over forty military personnel lost their lives, fear has, once again, gripped the Valley of Kashmir. Over four hundred separatists are claimed to have been arrested and local political organisations have been  banned by the Indian central government.

Kashmir conflict risks nuclear war

IPPNW Statement

02/27/2019 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.

Recent acts of terror and military incursions in the long-disputed territory have exacerbated a conflict that threatens to plunge these two countries into a fifth and, conceivably, final major war since partition. Both countries have traded threats of nuclear retaliation. This is how nuclear war begins.

Child recruitment to the military

Report: "Selling the Military"

02/27/2019 Last week medact.org released their report co-written with ForcesWatch, Selling the Military: A critical analysis of contemporary recruitment marketing in the UK. In the report and at the launch event they explored the way in which the military develops its marketing in order to target young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the implications this has on health and social inequality. You can read the report here.

Dr. Guddi Singh - Medact member and paediatrician - and Reem Abu-Hayyeh our Peace & Security Campaigner published an editorial in the BMJ Paediatrics Open on the ‘Adverse health effects of recruiting child soldiers’. You can read the editorial, see coverage of it in the Guardian and listen to an interview with Guddi on BBC Radio 4 (from 45.50min).

Peace Through Health

International Conference in Shiraz, Iran

11/27/2018 On November 13-16th, 2018, an International Conference on Peace Through Health was arranged by the two medical universities in Shiraz, Iran. Several IPPNW affiliate members spoke at the conference, including Dr. Leila Moein of Iranian Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR Iran), who led a presentation about the role of women in promoting Health through Peace. Dr. Arun Mitra and Dr. Shakeel-ur-Rahman of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) were also present, and talked about IDPD's accomplishments over the years, as well as the serious, ongoing health effects of uranium tailings on populations in India.

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International Day of Peace

Doctors for Peace

IPPNW affiliates of the Western Balkans Region stand up together for human rights.

09/21/2018 War and armed conflict constitute a serious threat to health, yet they are often neglected in our medical education. Researchers have long before predicted that by 2020 war will be one of the top 10 causes of disability and death. The events unfolding over the last decade globally have shown that this date has been brought forward. Health professionals are the ones, who are not only dealing with the reality of these predictions, rather they have also become victims of war, considering their role to being near those in need. On this International Day of Peace, should we as medical professionals take a stance on war? Shall we stand up for the human right to peace?

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Report on meeting in Macedonia

Bridges of Understanding

08/31/2018 Since 1995, medical students from different countries of former Yugoslavia have been taking part in the IPPNW program "Bridges of Understanding". They are invited to Würzburg to serve a one-month internship at the Missionsärztliche Klinik / Juliusspital (Klinikum Würzburg Mitte). They work in various departments, staying together in the house of St. Michael near the hospital. IPPNW medical students also organised a good program for their free time.

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07/30/2018 In the wake of our 18th June letter regarding the US decision to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran nuclear agreement, the office of the French Presidency received a delegation of three IPPNW representatives at Élysée Palace on Monday 30th July. His Excellency Etienne de Gonnevielle, strategic affairs councillor, condemned the US decision and shared IPPNW’s concerns about the humanitarian consequences that would result from the US reinstating sanctions upon Iran. He also revealed that President Macron’s government will continue adhering to the JCPOA alongside the European Union, UK, Russia and China and commented that the French government considers the Iran agreement to be a good model for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

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Peace and Health Blog, May 8th, 2018

Trump’s reckless Iran decision increases nuclear danger

05/08/2018 IPPNW condemns the withdrawal of the United States from the international nuclear weapons agreement with Iran, announced today by Donald Trump.
The decision by the US President to ignore key advisers and allies and to pull out of the nuclear agreement with Iran immediately increases the chances of new and intensified conflict in the Middle East and could provoke Iran into resuming its nuclear weapons program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has certified Iran’s compliance since 2015, when the agreement to halt all activities that could lead to development of nuclear weapons was reached with the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China, Germany, and the European Union.

03/27/2018 On May 7, 2018 the University of Bergen offers a new run of our interactive MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. This MOOC will help you to understand how violence affects health and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. ICAN staff has contributed to the development of one of the six case topics.

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03/02/2018 IPPNW was among the organizations that helped pass the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons 17 years ago. At that time we were optimistic  that the landmark agreement would make real inroads into achieving its goal to “reduce the human suffering caused by the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects and to enhance the respect for life and the dignity f the human person through the promotion of a culture of peace.”

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SNDWM, Nigeria, February 13, 2018

“Service to humanity” is heartbeat of IPPNW Nigeria Radio Project

02/13/2018 The IPPNW Nigeria Radio Project has at its heartbeat “service to humanity”- creating awareness of the threat armed violence poses to health and healthy communities and providing relevant information about public health approaches to preventing armed violence, thus equipping the public with knowledge that can drive peace building in society.

Read the full article on the Peace & Health Blog

02/02/2018 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) joins the World Medical Association in expressing grave concern over the arrests of leaders of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA).
We concur with the statement of WMA President Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura, who said, in part, “The WMA fully supports our Turkish colleagues in their public statements that war is a public health problem. The WMA has clear policy that physicians and national medical associations should alert governments to the human consequence of warfare and armed conflicts.”

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12/01/2017 In November 2017, the Society of Nigerian Doctors for the Welfare of Mankind (SNDWM) started a radio programme called “Bringing Peace to the People“. The program was initiated by a group of doctors to educate the public about the effect of violence on health, to aim at preventing violence and thereby creating a peaceful Nigeria. The programme aims to address the burden of small arms violence in Nigeria. Armed conflict due to identity, religious and economic hostilities have plagued Nigeria for over a decade – a situation worsened by the advent of Boko Haram. With 3.3 million internally displaced people, Nigeria is the country with the third highest number of internally displaced people in the world.

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Online Course Medical Peace Work

Second round of the 12 hours MPW MOOC

10/11/2017 During October and November, the University of Bergen offers a new run of our interactive MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. This MOOC will help you to understand how violence affects health and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. ICAN staff has contributed to the development of one of the six case topics.

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Online Course Medical Peace Work

Successful MPW MOOC

08/24/2017 2.200 students participated in the first round of the MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. The course included two hours of training per week and helped to understand how violence affects health in multiple ways and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. Many participants came from UK, Germany, Canada, USA, Kenya etc.

The next MOOC-round will take part on October 2, 2017.

Register now at: www.futurelearn.com/courses/medical-peace-work

The Lancet, August 18, 2017

The political determinants of the cholera outbreak in Yemen

08/18/2017 At the end of June, 2017, UNICEF and WHO released a statement declaring that Yemen is “facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world”.1 The statement points out that the outbreak is caused by the civil war that began in 2015, but it does not suggest that one party is more responsible than another, simply noting that “two years of heavy conflict” have resulted in “collapsing health, water and sanitation systems”. Nor does it point to one side being more affected by the outbreak, stating that “cholera has spread to almost every governorate”.

Medicine, Conflict and Survival, August 9,2017

Healing under fire – medical peace work in the field

08/09/2017 On August 9, 2017, the journal „Medicine, Conflict and Survival“ published the article „Healing under fire – medical peace work in the field“ from Louisa Chan Boegli and Maria Gabriella Arcadu. Both authors have been instrumental in defining and launching the World Health Organisation´s Health as a Bridge to Peace programme in the 1990s, and are now involved in the MPW partner organization 4Change, whose focus is on the education of health professionals in reducing violence and performing peacebuilding actions. In their article, Louisa Chan Boegli and Maria Gabriella Arcadu write about lessons from a project in Southern Thailand and three asessments carried out in Myanmar, along the Syrian Borders and in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Discussing peace, health and nuclear weapons in the UK

06/29/2017 The joint MEDACT Forum and IPPNW World Congress will be held September 4-6, 2017, at the University of York, United Kingdom. In addition to a packed program during the main Forum/Congress, the IPPNW International Council and Board of Directors meetings will be held on Sunday, Sept 3 and on Thursday, Sept 7.

Battle for Mosul

How the Jiyan Foundation is helping traumatized victims

04/10/2017 Bloodshed and Despair: Fleeing the Battle for Mosul

In 2014, when the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) attacked Sinjar, the Nineveh plains and the city of Mosul, about one million people were displaced within few weeks. The situation has become more severe since October 2016, when the Iraqi army, Peshmerga forces, allied militias and the international coalition launched an operation to retake Mosul. In fact, the number of security incidents has quadrupled, causing fear among civilians, large-scale destruction and displacement, and leaving people with nothing to go back to.

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A peace agenda for the new administration

01/17/2017 The looming advent of the Trump administration in Washington threatens to worsen an already deeply troubling international situation. Bitter wars are raging, tens of millions of refugees have taken flight, relations among the great powers are deteriorating, and a new nuclear arms race is underway. Resources that could be used to fight unemployment, poverty, and climate change are being lavished on the military might of nations around the world―$1.7 trillion in 2015 alone. The United States accounts for 36 percent of that global total.

Given this grim reality, let us consider an alternative agenda for the new administration―an agenda for peace.

European health groups launch teaching materials on violence and health

Press release, 9 December 2016, London, United Kingdom

12/09/2016 European health groups launch six online teaching cases to educate nurses, doctors, students and others on the health aspects of violence, war and armed conflict. They will be presented at the Medact conference “Healthy Planet – Better World” on December 10th, 2016 in London.
 
The cases are part of an educational series to help health professionals to engage in the identification and prevention of violence from the micro level (such as domestic violence, refugee discrimination, and torture) to the macro level (such as nuclear weapons, climate change, and war).

Détente Now

A New Call for Peace, Security, and Cooperation

12/06/2016 A transatlantic appeal for a new policy of détente with Russia has been launched in Germany. The declaration’s authors invite the general public to join leading political figures and social activists who have publicly rallied to support the call.  The declaration was initiated by a few concerned citizens of civil society, churches, and science, including Wolfgang Biermann former adviser to Egon Bahr), Peter Brandt (historian), Konrad Raiser (former secretary general of the World Council of Churches), Reiner Hoffmann (chairman of the German Trade Unions Federation), and Horst Teltschik, (former head of Chancellor Kohl’s office and 1999–2008 director of the Munich Security Conference), as well as, from the United States, Daniel Ellsberg (longtime advocate for an informed citizenry).

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Parliamentary motions on Medact's latest report

11/23/2016 Medact recently published a report examing the recruitment of children into the British armed forces. This practice has been heavily criticized by UN bodies and multiple human rights and child rights organisations, and Medact's report joins them in calling for the recruitment age to be raised to 18.

The report, published in October, received extensive attention in the press and is now gaining traction in the UK Government.

Last week,
a motion was tabled in Holyrood by Christina McKelvie from the SNP about the recruitment agenda behind armed forces visits to schools. The motion acknowledges Medact's report, and calls on Parliamentary members to read it.

Medact

The Recruitment of Children by the UK Armed Forces: a Critique from Health Professionals

10/17/2016 Medact’s new report on the long-term impacts of the British military’s recruitment of children under the age of 18, presents evidence linking ‘serious health concerns’ with the policy, and calls for a rise in the minimum recruitment age.

IPPNW Germany Press Release

Greek physician awarded prize for medical peace work

Critic of austerity measures in Greek health system receives award

10/14/2016 The Greek physician and founder of the Greek solidarity hospital “Metropolitan Community Clinic Helliniko” in Athens, Dr. Giorgos Vichas, is to be awarded with an international prize for his medical peace work. The award will be presented this evening at the 5th International “Medicine and Conscience” Congress and comes with a prize of 3,000 Euros. The prize has been donated by the German affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the European “Medical Peace Work” network. A second award will be shared by Fikr Shalltoot, a nurse from Gaza and programme director of the NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians in Gaza, and the medical organisation Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

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Medact Newsletter, July 14, 2016

Iraq, Medact & Chilcot

On 6 July 2016, the report of the British public Inquiry into the nation's role in the Iraq war, also known as the Chilcot report, was released. Medact released a statement that day calling among other things for the health community to push for more investment in peacebuilding and nonviolent responses to conflict, rather than militarised approaches.

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Report, February 10, 2016

The Value of Hospital Data: Understanding and Preventing Intentional Injury in Liberia

New report published by the Small Arms Survey and IPPNW

Studying the evidence related to the burden of injury of a population is a critical component of developing strategies to prevent and reduce violence. The Value of Hospital Data: Understanding and Preventing Intentional Injury in Liberia is a new Working Paper published by the Small Arms Survey with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). It draws on data provided by the Liberian Armed Violence Observatory (LAVO), an independent institution designed to gather, analyse, and produce reports on armed violence data in Liberia, where high levels of violence have characterized the country’s post-conflict transition.

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February 1, 2016

Peace Finally Makes Global Agenda

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Promoting peace, justice and inclusive societies – Goal 16 - is one of 17 Global Goals that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).  SDG 16 aims to significantly reduce all forms of violence, and work with governments and communities to find lasting solutions to conflict and insecurity. Specific goals within SDG 16 include to, “significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows,” and, to “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.” IPPNW will address SDG 16 and firearm violence as a public health issue at the June U.N. Programme of Action on Small Arms 6th Biennial Meeting of States.

01/19/2016 The German branch of the medical peace organisation IPPNW today urged foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to call for the immediate release of Turkish intellectuals who have been arrested for signing an appeal to peacefully resolve the conflict with the Kurdish population. In a public petition, a total of 1,128 academics from 89 universities called for the Turkish government to put an end to violence in the region, predominately inhabited by Kurds, and to resume peace negotiations that were broken off last summer. According to media reports, as many as 27 scholars have been arrested and more than 130 are threatened with detention. The public prosecutors in Istanbul are said to be investigating all signatories of the appeal. Many face the threat of punitive action or losing their jobs.

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12/02/2015 While barbarism and callous violence must always be resisted and challenged, a bombing campaign against ISIS will not help bring peace to the region, nor secure freedom and safety in the UK. More likely, reacting to the atrocities in Paris by supporting and expanding the US-led air war against ISIS will grow support for terrorism.

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Doctors warn armed violence a threat to health worldwide

Over 700 Gather in London to Advocate for War Prevention, Humanitarian Law, Refugee Assistance

01.12.2015 Armed conflict and militarization pose grave and escalating threats to health worldwide and must be tackled urgently, warned a coalition of leading health, peace, development and security organizations led by IPPNW UK affiliate Medact who met in London on the 13th & 14th November

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Press statement, IPPNW Germany

Overcoming War and Terror

Terrorist Attacks in Paris

18.11.2015 The physicians' peace organisation, IPPNW, is deeply shocked and appalled by the murderous hate of the Paris assassins. Our deepest sympathy goes out to the victims and their families. In view of the terror in Europe, we also remember the victims in Beirut, the Airbus crash over the Sinai desert and those in Ankara as well as the untold dead and injured in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. After the terror attacks in Paris, we appeal to the German government not to answer violence with violence and, in so doing, restrict basic liberties.

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Report

IPPNW Board of Directors hold a minute's silence

London, Monday, 16th November, 11 am GMT

16.11.2015 At its London meeting, the Board of Directors of IPPNW decided to join the minute’s silence in remembrance of the victims of terror and war, which was held all across Europe mindful of the dreadful acts of violence in France. The Board explicitly included all victims of hostility.

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Article

The Conflict over Ukraine

New front-line of nuclear escalation in Europe

18.11.2015 The relationship between the US and Russia is at all-time low since end of Cold War, and tensions continue to escalate. The US and Russia are no longer negotiating any arms control agreements. The last one was New START in 2010. Communication between NATO and Russia has broken down. Many previous agreements have been neglected, suspended or are endangered. The conflict in Ukraine has led to this relationship deteriorating even further. Nevertheless, we believe that the conflict is a symptom of this relationship, rather than a cause. The front-line from the Cold War has shifted from a divided Germany to a divided Ukraine today.

13.11.2015 With elections approaching, a 15-member delegation including politicians, journalists, doctors, human rights campaigners and trade-union officials from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands visited the cities Diyarbarkir, Cizre, Nusaybin, Silvan and Mardin in Turkey. They were invited by the peace block of Turkey, an alliance of numerous public organisations as well as public figures in both cultural affairs and politics. IPPNW doctor Dr Angelika Claußen was a member of the delegation.

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News release, International Peace Day

European health groups launch Medical Peace Work Case Studies

www.medicalpeacework.org

21.09.2015 European health groups today launched new educational materials to educate nurses, doctors, students and others on the health aspects of war, violence and armed conflict. The new case studies form part of the Medical Peace Work framework and depict challenging situations for health professionals in the search of preventing and reducing violence – as well as promoting peace, sustainable development, and human rights. They aim to show the role of doctors, nurses and others in building trust, understanding, mutually enriching structures, and cultures of peace.

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Press release

End the blockade of Donbass

Humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine

17.09.2015 IPPNW medical practitioners from 15 European countries appealed today to Presidents Poroshenko and Putin, the European Parliament and the OSCE to help lift the blockade of Donbass and allow free access to humanitarian assistance for the population in the region. The Ukraine government further tightened the blockade of the Donbass conflict region in June of this year: food and medical supplies are only allowed into the area controlled by the Separatists unter strict controls.

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Ukraine conflict risks nuclear war

Letter to Obama and Putin

08/11/2015 IPPNW co-presidents Ira Helfand and Vladimir Garkavenko have sent the following letter to Presidents Barack Obama of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia, expressing the Federation’s concern over the continuing conflict in Ukraine between two heavily armed nuclear States. Dr. Helfand is a member of the board of IPPNW’s US affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Garkavenko is a member of the board of IPPNW’s Russian affiliate, Russian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

19.05.2015 The IPPNW Executive Committee discussed the conflict in Ukraine during a conference call on May 19, and has issued the following statement:

The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has raised grave concerns about the potential for escalation among the nuclear-armed states engaged in this tragic armed conflict. Nuclear weapons cannot have any role—even rhetorically—in the difficult and dangerous conflict in Ukraine.

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04/22/2015 What began as social and political protests two and a half years ago has since developed into an armed confrontation between Ukrainian troops with Western backing on the one hand and separatist forces with Russian support on the other. Estimates of combatant and civilian casualties lie somewhere between 6,000 and 50,000. Findings of WHO and UNHCR suggest that it is predominantly women, children and the elderly who are bearing the brunt of war – a phenomenon frequently observed in contemporary wars.

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Greek IPPNW

70 years from the Holocaust

Translation of the presentation of the book Nikolaos A. Anastasopoulos "The Jewish Club of Ioannina during the Interwar period."

05/17/2015 The book of Law. Anastasopoulos "The Jewish Club of Ioannina during the interwar period" is published in an important anniversary. This year marks 70 years since the end of the World War II, that - as we want to believe-  led to the defeat of Nazism, and caused the horrors of the Holocaust.

On March 25, 1944, day Sabbath, the day of the Greek Independence, in the climate of terror and fear that then prevailed in Ioannina, the thousand years, perhaps longer, Jewish Community of Ioannina, forcibly gathered in the castle and the square Mavili: 1725 people from babies to the elderly, pregnant women up to elderly patients, all the members of the Community, loaded in 97 German head uncovered trucks to be transported through the snowy and icy March, to the extermination camps ...

Body Count - Casualty Figures after 10 Years "War on Terror"

Doctors group releases startling analysis of the death and destruction inflicted upon Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan

03/19/2015 On March 19, 2015 - the 12th anniversary of the military intervention in Iraq - IPPNW Germany together with the affiliates from the US and Canada, PSR and PGS released the fist international edition of "Body Count - Casualty Figures after 10 Years `War on Terror´". The report is a comprehensive account of the vast and continuing human toll of the various “Wars on Terror” conducted in the name of the American people since the events of September 11, 2001. This publication highlights the difficulties in defining outcomes as it compares evaluations of war deaths in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Even so, the numbers are horrific. The number of Iraqis killed during and since the 2003 U.S. invasion have been assessed at one million, which represents 5% of the total population of Iraq.

New project: Medical Peace Work 3

Medical Peace Work has gone into a third project round. It has been selected for EU-funding in the period 2014-2016. The new project aims to increase the MPW performance among health professionals through the use of case-based learning methodology. Ten partner organizations will collaborate to develop and to implement narrative case studies, audio-visual cases and a new case-based online course. In contrast to the existing seven MPW courses, the new material will be produced for group work and peer learning, both in formal and non‐formal education. Four of the partner organizations have former experience in collaborating through the MPW partnership. Six new members are included: IPPNW-Norway, Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace, Samaritan Austria State of Styria, 4-change, The Case Centre, and Medical Mission Institute Würzburg.

11/20/2014 In August, around 630,000 people were forced to run for their lives with scarcely more than the clothes on their backs. In an eight-day journey by foot they fled from Syria through the Sinjar Mountains to the Kurdish Dohuk Province in Iraq. The group attempting to escape the terror of Islamic State militia included Yazidis, Christians, Turkmens and a great many Arabs.

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25/09/2014

The "Race to 50" is won!

Peace & Health Blog

At a special ceremony at the United Nations in New York, several states, including the Bahamas, St Lucia, Portugal, Senegal, and Uruguay ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), helping to exceed the magic number of 50 required for the treaty to enter into force.

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IPPNW-Report "The health effects of uranium weapons: The social debate on the use of a controversial weapon"

IPPNW-Statement

IPPNW responds to Gaza crisis

07/28/2014 IPPNW calls for an immediate cease fire between Israel and Hamas.  We call on Israel to stop its air strikes and ground invasion of Gaza, and we call on Hamas to stop all rocket attacks on Israel  We also call on both sides to allow full access to medical care for all those wounded in the fighting.

IPPNW-Statement

IPPNW statement on crisis in Ukraine

07/22/2014 IPPNW calls call for an immediate cease fire to the fighting in Ukraine and for all states to refrain  from any military intervention in Ukraine.  We further call on Ukraine to reaffirm its historic decision to renounce nuclear weapons and for Russia to reaffirm the guarantee of Ukraine's territorial integrity that accompanied that decision. We further call for urgent UN mediation to achieve a diplomatic solution to the issues involved in this conflict.

“On an average day in the United States 86 people are killed by guns,” was one of many alarming facts presented by Dr. Bill Durston, a passionate IPPNW speaker at a June 17th panel conducted by IPPNW, the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons and IANSA at the United Nations (U.N.) in New York City. The panel focused on how guns affect health and development around the world, and was a well-attended side event at the U.N. Fifth Biennial Meeting of States to Consider Implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons.

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Hoping for Peace and Justice

German IPPNW Delegation to Palestine and Israel April 29th - May 10th, 2014

This is the fifth time that IPPNW Germany and Pax Christi has sent a delegation to Palestine and Israel. During their journey through Jerusalem and the West Bank, the 31 participants were able to learn of the hopes and struggles of the Palestinian people. Living with Palestinian host families, they were able to experience daily life under the Israeli policy of occupation and colonization, behind separation walls, fences and check-points. During their 10 day trip, the participants met with numerous Palestinian and Israeli peace and human right groups.

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Last weekend, IPPNW Germany was able to reach tens of thousands of people with speeches at the traditional Easter Peace Rallys across the country.

Speaking in front of the peace memorial Neue Wache in Berlin's historiccenter, IPPNW Germany board member Dr. Alex Rosen held a speech about ICAN and the process towards a nuclear weapons convention.

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By Henri Firket

Do we really want a remake?

Crimia Crisis

I am astonished at the way, in which, day after day, you take an anti-Russian stand in the Ukrainian conflict, increasing the possible danger of military confrontation. The present  reactions of the European Union, of NATO and the US, and of the national newssheets, including yourselves, are uselessly hostile and dangerous. They even consider a possible war against Russia, treated as if it were still an aggressive Soviet Union.

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03/10/2014 When the Soviet Union fell apart, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan became de facto nuclear states. Ukraine had the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world with about 5,000 nuclear charges, more than the UK, France, and China put together. The situation was dangerous. Russia, the USA, and Europe all had a strong interest in stopping the proliferation.

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03/06/2014 IPPNW views with deep concern the recent developments in Ukraine. IPPNW underscores the absolute imperative to avoid the possibility of use of nuclear weapons. This danger exists with any armed conflict involving nuclear armed states or alliances, which could escalate in uncontrollable, unintended and unforeseeable ways.

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By Dr. Hellen Barsosio, IPPNW

Planting a Seed: Introducing Medical Peace Work to Medical Students in Africa

Peace & Health Blog

03/26/2014 Medical students growing up in most African countries are confronted and sometimes overwhelmed by the varied needs in their societies including war, disease, poverty, violence, inequality and political instability. With this ‘confrontation’ comes the need to ‘fix’ whatever is wrong. In the past few years, we have noted that African medical students and young doctors are awakening to their responsibility to being more than just hospital workers. One of these areas of awakening is peace work.

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The ATT “race to 50”, (#Raceto50) coined by the Control Arms Coalition, just got a lot faster-paced with the European Union (EU) vote to authorize EU members to ratify the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

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An exciting new South/North project of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Finland in cooperation with the Society of Nigerian Doctors for the Welfare of Mankind (SNDWM), Zambian Healthworkers for Social Responsibility (ZHSR), and IPPNW just got a financial boost from the "Mazda Make Things Better Award." The Mazda award was launched at the summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in October, 2013 in Warsaw, and the joint IPPNW project “Raising awarenesson small arms through interactive radio programmes” has now won the first of these awards!

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Dr Tomasz Pierscionek, co-author of Medact’s Drone report, talks to journalist and activist Carol Anne Grayson about the dangers of the proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles.

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In recent news, the German government, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as MEPs from the European Committee on International Trade all called for EU countries to ratify the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Germany’s foreign minister said ATT ratification would take place as soon as the required European Parliament decision takes place, expected this spring.  He, too, called for other states to follow in order to “make the world a safer place.”

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IPPNW and ICBUW Press Release

Congenital Defects in Iraq

WHO stalls publication of report on effects of uranium weapons

September 26, 2013 – The Iraqi Ministry of Health claims that there is no evidence of an increased rate of congenital birth defects in Iraq, according to their recently published provisional report, which was supported by the WHO.

The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW) are critical of this claim. The design of the study, previous study results and contradictory assertions by high-ranking officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Health have all cast doubt on the findings.

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Syria

Let us treat patients in Syria

Open letter by 51 doctors

09/16/2013 IPPNW Co-Presidents Ira Helfand, Robert Mtonga, and Tilman Ruff,  former Co-President Sergey Kolesnikov, and a number of affiliate leaders have signed the following call for medical neutrality in Syria. Updates about the appeal can be followed on Twitter at #Doctors4Syria. The same hashtag can be used to comment on the appeal and to forward it to others.

Iran's chemical weapon survivors show twin horrors of WMD and sanctions

Victims of mustard and nerve gas in Iran-Iraq war now struggle to find inhalers, transplant drugs and other vital medicine

Though medical products are supposed to be excluded from the sanctions on Iran it is extremely difficult to arrange payment and shipment of them.

The resulting shortages of medicines caused by these sanctions has increased the suffering of the people. The victims of weapons of mass destruction have little chance of complete recovery after surgery if they don´t have access to medicines that are usually prescribed.

The German and Swedish IPPNW affiliates are therefore focusing on gaining public and political attention in order to enable imports of medical products and to finally alleviate their shortage by getting medicine into Iran.

08/27/2013 IPPNW firmly believes that chemical weapons, and any weapon of mass destruction, should never be used, and existing stockpiles should be eliminated in line with the Chemical Weapons Convention

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Peace and freedom cannot be obtained at the point of a gun

IPPNW Small Arms Congress „Human Target“

05/31/2013 The „Human Target“ Congress on the social and economic impact of the global arms trade is the first international congress on small arms to take place in a region of Germany where the weapons are produced. More than 300 participants from 25 countries, including from Europe, Australia, South-East Asia, Near East, Africa, North and Latin America, are taking part in the Congress.

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Report, IPPNW Greece

Peace Boat in Piraeus

08.09.2014 Peace activists in Piraeus and Athens, the capital of Greece, welcomed the Peace Boat (Ocean Dream) to the main Greek Port of Pireas at the end of a round the world voyage for the abolition and the total ban of nuclear weapons. Upon arrival to the Port of Piraeus Mr Yuki Hirayama, on behalf of PeaceBoat and Greek peace organizations, handed the Mayor of Piraeas, Mr Yannis Moralis, a letter from the Mayor of Hiroshima, Mr. Kazumi Matsui, in his capacity as President of the “Mayors for Peace” international movement. Mayors for Peace promotes the gobal 2020 vision campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020.

IPPNW signs letter to President Obama

Support of Arms Trade Treaty

Nobel Peace Laureates, Celebrities, Retired Generals, Faith Leaders, and Legal Professionals Deliver Letters to White House

03/18/2013 On March 14th  Physicians for Social Responsibility’s Executive Director Dr. Catherine Thomasson delivered to senior White House National Security staff a letter signed by 18 Nobel Peace Laureates including IPPNW, Amnesty International, former president Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Leymah Gbowee, and Oscar Arias, calling on President Obama to support a strong Arms Trade Treaty at the upcoming UN Diplomatic Conference.

PSR’s Dr. Thomasson was part of a delegation that included representatives from the faith, legal, military and human rights communities who delivered other letters of a similar nature signed by leading members of those constituencies.

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Social and Health Effects of the Global Arms Trade

International IPPNW Congress in Villingen-Schwenningen in 2013

11/27/2012 Every minute a human being dies from the force of arms. More than 70 percent of these victims are killed by small weapons. The social and health effects of the global small arms trade are the main issue of an international IPPNW congress taking place in Villingen-Schwenningen from May 30 to June 2, 2013, in collaboration with the German campaign „Aktion Aufschrei – Stoppt den Waffenhandel“. “At our congress in the Neuen Tonhalle we will discuss the social, psychological and medical implications of small arms production and trade. At the same time we want to use this forum to coordinate further activities and to develop perspectives to reduce the production and distribution of these weapons”, says IPPNW board member Dr Helmut Lohrer.

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IPPNW Campaign begins in Iran

11/16/2012 In a fine example of IPPNW's physician-to-physician diplomacy, an international IPPNW delegation has been meeting with campaigners and activists in Iran from November 12-15, including one high-profile event at the Tehran Peace Museum which has garnered local media attention. The delegation also visited Shahid Behesty University and area hospitals during their stay.

Mental Health Policy in Iraq since 2003

A Post-Invasion Analysis - report launch

10/27/2012 Medact's report dedicated to Dr Jack Piachaud was launched at the 2012 AGM of the Iraqi Mental Health Forum UK, and in collaboration with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, on October 27th 2012. The meeting included presentations on the background and recommendations of the report, and on the activities of the Iraqi Mental Health Forum and the Iraq Sub-Committee of the Royal College of Psychatrists and their projects in Iraq.

10/13/2012 On October 13th Medact launched its report "Drones: the physical and psychological implications of a global theatre of war". In the past decade, there has been an exponential increase in the proliferation and use of armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as ‘drones’. For the first time in history, it is possible to attack an enemy thousands of miles away without fear of retaliation.  In addition to the number of deaths and injuries of innocent civilians caused by their use, there is increasing evidence of the psychological damage to people living under the constant threat of drone attack, and to the drone operators themselves.

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Speech of Dr. Ulrich Gottstein, Germany

IPPNW-Symposium in Mostar

Bosnia-Herzegovina, 8.-10. June 2012

06/10/2012 Our IPPNW meeting here today in Mostar is truly a very special one! This is the tenth time since 1998 that young physicians and medical students from former Yugoslavia meet, not to forget the suffering of the past wars, but to work towards reconciliation, peace and a better future and also to build and consolidate personal friendships. This is the second time that we meet in Mostar. Before, there were three friendship meetings in Sarajevo, two in Belgrade, one in Neum, two in Skopje, and last year we met in Pristina.

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Violence Prevention Alliance Launches Plan of Action 2012-2020

05/23/2012 This week the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), of which IPPNW is an active member, launched the Global Campaign for Violence Prevention (GCVP)2012-2020.  The VPA is a network of WHO Member States, international agencies and civil society organizations working to prevent violence. This Plan aims to unify the efforts of the main actors in international violence prevention and identify a small set of priorities for the field.  It was developed in response to a need for a plan of action identified by hundreds of violence prevention experts who convened at the September 2011 Fifth Milestones in a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa and the April 2012 Violence Prevention Alliance meeting in Munich, Germany.

Appeal for a Denuclearized Middle East

Statement by IPPNW, the Bertrand Russell Foundation, International Globalisation Watch and Veterans for Peace

We are profoundly concerned about the threat of a new war in this region, this time on the pretext of Iran’s nuclear program. We seek to ensure that all diplomatic and political means be employed to resolve the crisis in the relations between Iran and the West on the basis of international law. We proclaim, once again, that there are no military solutions to international problems. We express our solidarity with the Syrian people and we support their right to decide freely and democratically for their future. We are strongly against plans for Libya-type military intervention in Syria.

 

Press Release IPPNW Germany

Escalation of Violence in Syria – Draft Resolution on Syria

Prevent further militarisation of the conflict in Syria.

In view of the increasing violence in Syria, the physicians' peace organisation, IPPNW, asks the German government, in the Security Council to work for deescalating measures and towards dialogue between the Assad government and the Syrian opposition. The international community should urgently insist on the absence of violence in the demonstrations, as well as that the government resist responding with violent means. The export of weapons of war and other armaments to the region should be stopped immediately.

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February 6th, 2012

Stop the violence in Syria – prevent war!

Appeal to the Syrian government and the armed opposition as well as to their international supporters

As members of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) we are deeply concerned about the large and growing number of victims of violence in Syria, including a great many individuals not directly involved in the conflict. Numerous physicians, as well others contributing to the care of the injured, are affected. We, as the German section of the IPPNW, also want to raise the alarm about an additional danger. A Western military intervention could set a process in motion that would involve other countries, such a Iran, and thereby lead to a conflagration in the whole region – and one which borders directly with Europe. If NATO becomes involved, this could even result in an open confrontation between the nuclear superpowers.

Read in [Persian]  [Spanish] [German]

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[Please support this appeal by your signature]

No military action will prevent nuclear proliferation

IPPNW statement

02/08/2012 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) opposes all military action against Iran’s nuclear program.  Attacking Iranian facilities will cause widespread devastation, increase the risk of nuclear proliferation, and halt the chances for peace in the region. IPPNW urges all nations, and Israel and the United States in particular, to refrain from launching military strikes against Iran, and to work with the international community to resolve, through the many diplomatic and non-violent pathways that remain open, the legitimate concerns that Iran may be developing a nuclear weapons capability.

15.12.2011

Calling All Health Professionals!

Sign IPPNW’s Petition to Help Pass a Global Arms Trade Treaty to Save Lives, Protect Health

12/15/2011 If you are a medical or public health professional we need you to add your health voice to our new Medical Alert on Armed Violence petition to the United Nations to call for passage of a strong global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). A delegation of IPPNW medical professionals will deliver the petition to the key negotiators at the UN during the ATT Review Conference in 2012.

Our goal is 25,000 health signatures and you can help.

A Conference for Security and Cooperation in the Middle East

Commentary on the importance of a common and inclusive approach for calming various tensions in the Middle East

With the war drums on Iran sounding again and the Arab Revolts following an arduous path, the question of a sustainable perspective for a conflict-ridden region remains to be dealt with. After all, the lack of both security and cooperation is an enduring malady plaguing the region. 

No war on Iran

Online campaign of IPPNW Germany

11/21/2011 The german section of IPPNW has launched an online campaign, addressing Catherine Ashton, European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The signatories call on Ashton, to start extensive diplomatic efforts with Iran, to prevent further escalation: "This includes on the one hand, the involvement of the USA, Russia, China and the Arab League, and on the other hand the implementation of such a strategy in the European Union itself." Take part in the campaign and send an email to Catherine Ashton.

News Release

Turkish doctor wins medical peace work prize

International Medical Peace Award

10/16/2011 The 2011 International Medical Peace Award has been given to Prof. Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci for her courageous opposition to torture and human rights abuses. Dr Fincanci, who is a coroner, high school teacher and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey received the award in recognition of her outstanding medical peace work.

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Stop the killing in Libya

Medact sends letter to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

At the beginning of the present conflict in Libya, Medact supported the IPPNW statement calling for an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated end to the conflict. Since then Medact has written several times, and had a meeting with, the FCO's Libya Unit. They continue to be alarmed by the humanitarian consequences of the fighting in Libya, in which the UK armed forces are playing a significant role. Click here to see Medact's latest letter to the Libya Unit and do get in touch with them if you would like to be involved.

Stop the killing in Libya

IPPNW Statement

03/23/2011 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) calls on all parties for an immediate cease fire in Libya. Having established a no fly zone, we call on the governments responsible for the international forces for an immediate halt in all military actions, and on the Libyan government and the Libyan rebels to end the fighting and to seek a peaceful conflict solution, if necessary facilitated by UN negotiators.

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News release, 27th January 2011

European health groups launch Medical Peace Work courses

www.medicalpeacework.org

01/27/2011

European health groups launched today seven freely available, interactive online courses in violence prevention and peacebuilding. The aim of the courses is to educate health professionals about the impact of war and other forms of violence on the health of individuals and populations, and to show how they can make a positive and particular contribution to peace building, violence prevention and conflict transformation. The courses provide the participants with new insights about the special role and responsibility of healthcare professionals in peace work.

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11/09/2010 The basic principle that civil society can and must make an important contribution to conflict solving, as long as the states do not see their way clear to do so, is as relevant in the region of the Middle East as elsewhere. The planned civil society Regional Conference for Security and Cooperation is thought of as an on-going civil society body, consisting of experts and of NGOs from the region.

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The Continuing Korean War and IPPNW

An Essay by Gunnar Westberg

11/30/2010 To understand what is going on in Korea it is helpful to try to see the conflict from the other side, from that of North Korea. There is no peace agreement after the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with an armistice agreement. There is still a state of war between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, DPRK, and the USA.

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11/12/2010 IPPNW co-president Dr. Robert Mtonga participated with members of the Control Arms Coalition and the new joint Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC)/International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) at the recent First Committee on Disarmament and International Security session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in October.

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07/20/2010

Aiming for Prevention coordinator Maria Valenti and PSR Philadelphia Executive Director Patricia Harner joined IPPNW physicians Sina Helbig (Germany), Robert Mtonga (Zambia), Emperatriz Crespin (El Salvador), Ime John (Nigeria), and Cathey Falvo, Vic Sidel (US) in bringing an important health perspective to the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) in New York City, which was convened to review implementation of the UN’s Programme of Action to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Dr. Mtonga served on the official Zambian delegation and helped inject text on the importance of health into the Zambian statement submitted to the meeting.

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IPPNW recommends public health action plan to UN small arms meeting

06/18/2010

As an NGO participant at the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS), which was convened to review implementation of the UN’s action plan to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, IPPNW had an opportunity to address the conference on Thursday, June 17, during a special civil society session.

06/08/2010

Palestinian Physicians For the Prevention of Nuclear War (PPPNW) and the Israeli Physicians For Peace and the Preservation Of The Environment (IPPPE) Affiliates of International Physicians For the Prevention of Nuclear War agree as follows:

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05/27/2010

Germany’s biggest bank Deutsche Bank has divested the bank’s 2% stake in Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company that supplies the Israeli military and provides components for the Apartheid Wall in Occupied Palestinian Territory that was found to be in violation of international law by the International Court of Justice. The announcement at the Bank’s AGM today follows a concerted campaign from German human rights organisations.

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Medical Peace Work

Internet course starts on its second round

03/18/2010

The internet course for Medical Peace Work starts on its second round. The cost-free training offer for physicians, healthcare professionals and medical students is online since two years. The course is subdivided into seven modules, which provide the participants with new insights about the role of healthcare professionals in peace progress.

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Global Response 2010

International conference on violent conflict and health

01/26/2010

The conference took place in Copenhagen from the 22nd to the 25th of January 2010 and we are happy to announce that is has been a great success and that we have received lots of positive feedback.

We are currently working in the upload of all material from the conference which will be made available to you during the coming month. Through the link below you can find abstracts, the official conference programm, links to themed issues of scientific journals and all press coverage from the conference. More will follow, including videos of all speaker, conference newsletters and the power point presentations of speakers. We are working on a final report which will be available online.

IPPNW Press Release from 18. January 2010

USA are seeking alternatives for Depleted Uranium (DU)

IPPNW demands ban of Depleted Uranium

01/18/2010 The United States are seeking alternatives for depleted uranium (DU) ammunition. According to Dave Cullen from the “International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons” (ICBUW), the Maneuver Ammunition Systems – an government body which manages ammunition procurement for the US military  – intends to stop the use of DU in weapons.“This is a first step in the right direction. Depleted uranium was used systematically in both Gulf Wars and is most likely a main cause for the increased numbers of cancer among the Iraqi population”, says IPPNW chair Dr. Angelika Claußen. IPPNW urges the German government to follow the example of Belgium and to stop the production and use of DU.

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Book edited by Neil Arya, Joanna Santa Barbara

Peace through Health

How Health Professionals Can Work for a Less Violent World

10/12/2009 We typically define and talk about wars using the language of politics, but what happens when you bring in a doctor’s perspective on conflict? Can war be diagnosed like an illness? Can health professionals participate in its mitigation and prevention? The contributors to Peace through Health: How Health Professionals Can Work for a Less Violent World engage with these ground-breaking ideas and describe tools that can further peace once war is understood as a public health problem.

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Explosive Violence

New report reveals threat to civilians from use of ‘explosive weapons’

Calls for the use of explosive weapons in populated areas to be restricted on humanitarian grounds

01/08/2009 A new report, released today by Landmine Action in collaboration with Medact, shows that explosive weapons kill and injure more civilians than military personnel worldwide.

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Basrah Epidemiology Study team meets in Turkey

Reliable cancer registry

07/21/2009 Members of ICBUW and IPPNW-Germany have met with experts from the Basrah Cancer Research Group (BCRG) in Istanbul, Turkey for an update on the activities of an epidemiological study project in Basrah and to discuss future research plans, which will be funded partly by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Three experts from the BCRG attended the meeting held in Istanbul on July 13th and 14th, together with members of IPPNW-Germany and two German epidemiologists who have given scientific support to members of the Iraqi group.

War crimes in Gaza - the case of DU

Report of the meeting

07/08/2009 On July 8, 2009 a meeting of NGO’s and Press took place successfully in Athens about "War crimes in Gaza – the case of DU". Maria Arvaniti Sotiropoulou President of the Greek Affiliate of IPPNW explained why we organized this meeting. She made a short review of DU weapons. IPPNW Greece was the first NGO which published the issue (1991) and in 2001 informed the press about the use of these weapons in Yugoslavia before NATO did. In the same year we forced the Greek government to accept that that the Greek army not only possessed but had already used these weapons in exercises of the Greek Navy.

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Medical Voices Against Violence

A project of IPPNW's Aiming for Prevention Program

06/15/2009 IPPNW's new "Medical Voices Against Violence" project features stories of personal experiences with violence, especially gun violence, from IPPNW members - doctors, nurses, medical students and and other heath professionals. We will use these stories to educate others about the human costs of violence via IPPNW's "Aiming for Prevention" campaign, and to advocate for violence prevention using a public health approach.

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Statement on the Use of White Phosphorus by Israeli Forces in Gaza

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)

02/06/2009 IPPNW notes with grave concern the use of white phosphorus by Israeli forces in the recent war against Gaza.  As physicians committed to reducing the suffering brought by warfare, we recognise the inhumane and indiscriminate effects of white phosphorus, and strongly condemn its use in armed conflict under any circumstances. 

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Stop the bloodshed!

IPPNW Statement on the Violence in Gaza and the conflict between Israel and Palestine

01/06/2009 We, physicians who have the mission to protect life and promote health, cannot accept the present suffering and bloodshed taking place in Gaza. We urge all parties to immediately take all the necessary steps to achieve an immediate, complete, and stable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the South of Israel, and to provide sufficient medical care for all the victims who suffer from severe injuries.

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10/18/2008 On October 17, 2008 the South Bridge connecting the cities Lewiston and Aubury in Main, USA was renamed after the IPPNW-founder Bernard Lown. Governor John E. Baldacci of Main expressed his hope that by renaming the bridge future generations will remember Bernard Lown and be inspired by his “incredible humanitarian efforts”.

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No to War - No to NATO

Appeal agreed in Stuttgart 5th October 2008

10/05/2008 On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the NATO military organisation, we appeal to all people to come to Strasbourg and Kehl in April 2009, to protest against NATO’s aggressive military and nuclear policies, and assert our vision of a just world free of war. NATO is an increasing obstacle to achieving world peace. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has reinvented itself as a tool for military action by the “international community”, including the promotion of the so-called “war on terror”.

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Culture of Peace

A Small Report from the Congress

09/25/2008 From September 12th to 14th IPPNW Germany held its 3rd Open Congress for a Culture of Peace in the Urania in Berlin.  For three days 700 participants and experts were debating to identify paths to recovery and to promote constructive proposals for more peaceful world order. More than 50 experts from all over the world gave lectures, from Ecuador, Kenya, Canada, South Africa or Palestine.

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09/15/2008 An international journal for all those interested in political violence, health and human rights.  Abstracts and contents can be viewed through the web site  http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/mcs

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IPPNW calls for Ceasefire between Russia and Georgia

World Court Submission recommended

08/11/2008 The armed conflict between Russia and Georgia is extremely dangerous and needs to be brought to a halt immediately. The impact on innocent civilians is mounting and, if allowed to continue, could spiral out of control. Further, were this territorial dispute to draw in neighboring European countries and the United States, the conflict could escalate into a confrontation between the two largest nuclear-armed states.

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Medical Peace Work

Launch of e-learning course

03/11/2008 The course is the world´s first of its kind and it applies the latest e-learning technology in offering seven separate but interlinked modules, available free of charge to physicians, health workers and students globally. The MPW-partnership is built on an already existing European network of medical peace organizations and teaching institutions that gathered during The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in 1999 and the IPPNW World Congress in Paris in the year 2000.

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03/10/2008 We, the health specialists, who have been working for peace, disarmament and nuclear abolition from all over the world, have been deeply concerned about the potentially harmful effects on the environment and human health, which may be caused by the radioactive and chemical toxicity of DU following the use of DU weapons.

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Globalisation and War

Speech of Susan George

03/10/2008 "IPPNW was founded in the context of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race. So it may seem to many of you a kind of heresy to say that those times, although surely terrifying in their own way, also provided a strange kind of stability. No place on earth could be considered unimportant by the super-powers because any place could become a base, a staging area, a strategic pawn for the other side. Today the situation is utterly changed. There are a great many places that are not worth bothering about; they are full of losers, of the excluded, the hundreds of millions of rubbish people."

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01/16/2008 Iraq's healthcare is in disarray with doctors and nurses fleeing abroad and child death rates soaring, according to a report on Wednesday. Up to 75 percent of Iraq's doctors, pharmacists and nurses have left their jobs since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. More than half of those have emigrated, the report by health organisation Medact said.

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Effects of small arms violence

IPPNW researchers document

11/15/2007 The Journal of Public Health Policy has published an important new series of articles on small arms in Africa written by IPPNW researchers active in the Aiming For Prevention program on small arms and light weapons (SALW) violence. All of the articles in the special section of the November issue of JPHP, entitled "Small Arms and Light Weapons in Africa - A Major Challenge to Public Health and Development," were made freely available online for the first month of publication as part of a broader initiative by the Council of Science Editors.

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War and Public Health

Preventing the consequences

10/15/2007 Oxford University Press has just published the second edition of a comprehensive, authoritative and all-new book on the public health consequences of war by two long-time IPPNW leaders. War and Public Health, edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel, explores the effects of war on health, human rights, and the environment, and describes what health professionals can do to minimize those consequences and help prevent war altogether. The health and environmental impact of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction "nuclear, chemical, and biological" is described in detail.

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17th IPPNW World Congress Helsinki

Congress Statement

If you want peace, work for health!

09/10/2006 The 17th IPPNW World Congress took place in Helsinki, Finland from 7th to 10 September 2006. The motto of the Congress was War or Health? Themes of the congress were: nuclear abolition; small arms and the public health impact of war; and energy security. A statement was issued at the close of the congress.

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Medical Peace Work

Health Personnel in Violence Prevention

"The role of physicians and other health workers in the preservation and promotion of peace is the most significant factor for the attainment of health for all." (World Health Assembly, Resolution 34.38, 1981) With the Medical Peace Work project we wish to strengthen a new field in medicine and health sciences that deals with the role and professional responsibility of health workers in violence prevention and sustainable peace building.

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