ICAN Action Alert May 2008

Stop HEU Use in Radiopharmaceutical Production

IPPNW has launched a medical campaign, as part of ICAN, to accelerate the global conversion of radioisotope-producing reactors from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU). The objective of the campaign is the passage of resolutions by medical associations around the world, in order to place irresistible pressure on those few producers who continue to use HEU needlessly.

While it may seem like a small matter compared with the task of eliminating some 25,000 nuclear weapons from the world’s arsenals, this is a proliferation problem in the medical profession’s own backyard. Health care professionals have an obligation to hasten the phase-out of medical commerce in HEU and so terminate one of the most vulnerable pathways to the much-feared “terrorist bomb.”

The International Council and the IPPNW Board supported this coordinated activity in which all IPPNW affiliates are urged to participate as an ICAN priority. We are asking all IPPNW affiliates to take the following steps, starting as soon as possible:

1. Go to www.ippnw.org/Programs/ICAN/HEU.htm to familiarize yourself with the issue and to download some essential resources, including a draft resolution, a briefing paper on HEU, and a powerpoint presentation that you can use to describe the HEU problem (and the solution) to your medical associations. (For your convenience, the briefing paper and draft resolution are attached.)
2. Contact your national medical association and/or specialty associations to find out what process they use to consider and adopt policy resolutions. In some cases, this may involve submitting the text through a resolutions committee in advance of an annual meeting. You may find, therefore, that a certain amount of follow up will be required over a period of months, so it would be a good idea to assign this project to a local ICAN coordinator.
3. Educate the leadership of your medical association about the use of HEU in medical isotope production. The powerpoint presentation available on IPPNW’s website has been designed for use by non-experts. If you have questions, or need additional information or advice, please contact us at director@ippnw.org.
4. Please keep the Central Office informed about your progress. We already know, for example, PSR members are bringing this issue to the American Public Health Association, and that Ron McCoy has brought an HEU resolution to the Malaysian Medical Association. We will keep you updated on these and other initiatives as we learn more.

A Treaty to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

By Lawrence S. Wittner

Although few people are aware of it, there has been considerable progress over the past decade toward a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons.

For many years, there had been a substantial gap between the pledges to eliminate nuclear weapons made by the signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 and the reality of their behaviour.

To remedy this situation, in 1996 the New York-based Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy - the U.S. affiliate of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms - began to coordinate the drafting of a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention. Formulated along the lines of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force in 1997, this model nuclear convention was designed to serve as an international treaty that prohibits and eliminates nuclear weapons.

Although the late 1990s proved a difficult time for nuclear arms control and disarmament measures, the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy, joined by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and the International Network of Engineers Against Proliferation, continued its efforts. Consequently, in 2007, these organizations released a new model treaty, revised to reflect changes in world conditions, as well as an explanatory book, Securing Our Survival.

In 1997, like its predecessor, this updated convention for nuclear abolition was circulated within the United Nations, this time at the request of Costa Rica and Malaysia. In addition, it was presented at a number of international conclaves, including a March 2008 meeting of non-nuclear governments in Dublin, sponsored by the Middle Powers Initiative and by the government of Ireland.

Although the Western nuclear weapons states and Russia have opposed a nuclear abolition treaty, the idea has begun to gain traction. The Wall Street Journal op-eds by George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger, and Sam Nunn have once again placed nuclear abolition on the political agenda. Speaking in February 2008, the U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Sergio Duarte, condemned the great powers’ “refusal to negotiate or discuss even the outlines of a nuclear-weapons convention” as “contrary to the cause of disarmament. ” Opinion surveys have reported widespread popular support for nuclear abolition in numerous nations-including the United States, where about 70 percent of respondents back the signing of an international treaty to reduce and eliminate all nuclear weapons.

Of course, it’s only fair to ask if there really exists the political will to bring such a treaty to fruition. Although Barack Obama has endorsed the goal of nuclear abolition, neither of his current opponents for the U.S. presidency has followed his example or seems likely to do so. John McCain is a thoroughgoing hawk, while Hillary Clinton-though publicly supporting some degree of nuclear weapons reduction-has recently issued the kind of “massive retaliation” threats unheard of since the days of John Foster Dulles.

Furthermore, the American public is remarkably ignorant of nuclear realities. Writing in the Foreword to a recent book, Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security, published by the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, the Western States Legal Foundation, and the Reaching Critical Will project of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (www.wmdreport.org), Zia Mian, a Princeton physicist, points to a number of disturbing facts about contemporary U.S. public opinion. For example, more Americans (55%) mistakenly believe that Iran has nuclear weapons than know that Britain (52%), India (51%), Israel (48%), and France (38%) actually have these weapons.

Although the United States possesses over 5,700 operationally deployed nuclear warheads, more than half of U.S. respondents to an opinion survey thought that the number was 200 weapons or fewer. Thus, even though most Americans have displayed a healthy distaste for nuclear weapons and nuclear war, their ability to separate fact from fiction might well be questioned when it comes to nuclear issues.

Fortunately, there are many organisations working to better educate the public on nuclear dangers. In addition to the groups already mentioned, these include Peace Action, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Federation of American Scientists, Faithful Security, and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. And important knowledge can also be gleaned from that venerable source of nuclear expertise, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

But there remains a considerable distance to go before a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons becomes international law.

The History News Network: www.hnn.us/articles/49891.html

Dr. Wittner is Professor of History at the State University of New York/Albany. His latest book, co-edited with Glen H. Stassen, is Peace Action: Past, Present, and Future (Paradigm Publishers).

IPPNW, ICAN bring abolition message to NPT PrepCom

By John Loretz

When nuclear weapon states give themselves credit for dismantling aging and outdated strategic weapons, while maintaining silence about their investments in programs to build 21st century arsenals, what are non-nuclear-weapon states to think?

Do non-nuclear -weapon states have an obligation to uphold their end of the bargain under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), whether or not the nuclear-weapon states ever make good on their own commitments?

Can global expansion of the nuclear energy industry take place without jeopardizing the entire non-proliferation regime?

When will the promise of the NPT be fulfilled through the negotiation and adoption of a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) to abolish the only weapons capable of destroying humanity?

These questions [see answers below], among others, were raised loudly by IPPNW and representatives of more than 60 other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who participated in the second Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2010 NPT Review Conference in Geneva.

More than a dozen doctors, medical students, and staff guaranteed a strong IPPNW presence at the PrepCom, promoting the Convention among diplomats and other NGOs, attending ICAN workshops, organizing a “Nuclear Weapon Free – My Cuppa Tea” event, and taking part in a simulation game to negotiate an NWC. Former co-president Gunnar Westberg presented an IPPNW paper on the climate effects of regional nuclear war, during a formal NGO session in the PrepCom assembly hall.

Unlike the failed 2005 Review and the 2007 PrepCom, where procedural wrangling effectively prevented substantive discussion, many state delegations openly pressed the nuclear weapon states to make deeper, faster, and more permanent cuts in their arsenals, while insisting that the non-proliferation terms of the Treaty (Articles I and II) must go hand-in-hand with disarmament (Article VI).

The not-so-hidden agenda of nuclear energy supplier states—led most aggressively by Russia and the US—to use the Treaty as a staging ground for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and the development of multinational uranium enrichment centers was even more apparent at this PrepCom than it was a year ago in Vienna. The beleaguered US-India nuclear technology deal, which seriously undermines the non-proliferation goals of the NPT, became a focal point of across-the-board NGO opposition to the so-called peaceful uses of nuclear energy enshrined in Article IV.

Nevertheless, this was a PrepCom that ended without substantive decisions or official recommendations. Any hopes for a positive outcome in 2010 now hinge on the decisions made at the 2009 PrepCom in New York.

Click here to download a full PrepCom report, including the text of Dr. Westberg’s presentation

[ANSWER KEY: 1) What else can they think? The nuclear weapon states are far from compliance with Article VI. 2) Yes. But can anyone wonder why they are losing patience with the double standard? 3) No. 4) As soon as civil society demands it loudly and effectively enough.]

Perscriptions for Survival - 9/25 thru 9/27

How worried are you about the fate of our planet? Climate change, wars, toxins in the environment threaten our health and the health of generations to come. Nuclear weapons, the ultimate catastrophe, are still with us. This conference will help you learn about the connections between health and the environment and look for potential solutions. We will examine the health effects of human rights violations, climate change, chemical waste, war, energy and resource depletion, economic policies, the ‘built environment’ and ‘greening’ of hospitals. Many of these issues have major consequences for basic human health and even survival hence the title: “Prescriptions for Survival”.

Objectives and specific outcomes:

1. To offer reliable, unbiased, user-friendly information such that participants can appreciate the interconnections between major issues of environment and militarism and their effects on health.
2. To support medical residents/students/fellows, our future physician leaders, and give them the tools they will need to communicate this knowledge to the broader public.
3. To promote land-use planning and ‘built environments’ that support active, healthy lifestyles and improve community and environmental health.
4. To renew public outrage that nuclear weapons are not only the ultimate weapon of war, but also can cause unfathomable environmental effects. Medical students are planning a “Target X” and soup kitchen campaign to coincide with this conference as a public awareness tool.
5. To reconnect the larger medical community to the fact that nuclear weapons are a public health concern and hence draw attention to ways of nuclear war prevention.
6. To recognize that climate change, sometimes described as a ‘threat multiplier’, is also a public health concern and look at ways of mitigating and adapting to these impacts.
7. To produce, as a result of the conference activities, some ‘prescriptions for survival’ for future use, which will be in the form of a conference report summarizing the key learnings.
8. To inspire and inform doctors and medical students to be more involved in their local communities and in the global village.

Contact Information
Andrea Levy, Physicians for Global Survival (Canada) national office
208-145 Spruce St., Ottawa, ON., K1R 6P1,
Phone: (613) 233-1982 Fax (613) 233-9028 Email: pgsadmin@web.ca
Nancy Covington, Halifax
Phone: (902) 479-3953 Email: nancy.covington@ns.sympatico.ca
Conference Web Site
Physicians for Global Survival (Canada) http://www.pgs.ca/

IPPNW to Participate in UN Programme of Action

IPPNW to Participate in UN Programme of Action on Small Arms International Meeting New York City in July. We are currently planning events via our leadership with the IANSA Public Health Network to educate delegates and encourage policy changes to prevent injuries and death from gun violence.

IPPNW has applied for accreditation to participate at the United Nations Conference Third Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, that will take place in New York City between 14 and 18 July 2008. View meeting website.

As an international NGO with UN consultative status through both ECOSOC and the Department of Public Information, IPPNW has been a regular participant at UN-based disarmament meetings, including, in recent years, the 2001 UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, the First and Second Biennial Meetings of States in July 2003, 2005, and the 2006 PrepCom. At the latter meetings IPPNW co-sponsored side events with the World Health Organization and also the IANSA Public Health Network (which we coordinate) on the public health dimensions of small arms violence. An IPPNW One Bullet Story from Kenya was shown on the giant screen to all delegates during the NGO presentation in 2005.

We are currently planning activities to educate delegates and encourage policy changes to prevent injuries from gun violence. [Support this Work]

IPPNW Presents 13 Papers on Violence Prevention

IPPNW members from 6 countries presented 13 papers and posters on violence prevention and public health at this year’s 9^th World Conference on Violence Prevention and Safety Promotion otherwise known as Safety 2008 held in March in Merida, Mexico. Attendees from the United States (including Puerto Rico), El Salvador, Nicaragua, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia also participated in meetings organized by regional departments of the World Health Organization (WHO), the WHO Violence Prevention Alliance of which IPPNW is a member, and the International Society for Violence and Injury Prevention. We spread our message that “Guns are Bad for Health,” continued our discussions with the Small Arms Survey regarding future projects (they recently helped fund our African armed violence research project.), and released a Press Release in which IPPNW co-president Dr. Ime John called for more international donor investment in violence prevention. Seven IPPNW delegates received full scholarships from Safety 2008 to attend.

A special section of Medicine, Conflict and Survival edited by Medact’s Dr. Jack Piachaud will be developed based on several of the IPPNW papers presented at Safety 2008.

These conferences are excellent venues for networking and making important contacts for future work. Please keep our AfP network informed about other important conferences such as this where we can possibly present and advocate on our issues. [Support this Work]

IPPNW delegates to Safety 2008 in Merida Mexico with Jennifer Hazen from Small Arms Survey (third from right)

Discussing projects and posters at Safety 2008

Dr. David Meddings from WHO reviews IPPNW poster on African research project at Safety 2008

Emerging web technology

IPPNW looks to emerging web technology to grow international campaigns for disarmament and health.

Through new developments on the internet, organizations and activists are beginning to find it easier to reach beyond typical spheres of influence. These new websites and technologies are, for some, just as confusing as they are exciting, but once started most find navigating this new terrain well worth the investment.

IPPNW is embracing these new tools and encouraging physicians, medical students and concerned citizens across our network to come along and get connected.

As a federation of national medical organizations in 60 countries, representing tens of thousands of doctors, medical students, other health workers, and concerned citizens, this is an exciting trend for IPPNW and its affiliates. Local “on-line” communities are launching everywhere, connecting activists in localized neighborhoods with activists across the globe. Will these new tools catalyze a groundswell of global support for the elimination of nuclear weapons? Who really knows the answer to that, but from Nairobi to Salt Lake City to Dusseldorf, thousands are logging-on to find out. We invite you to join a group, start a group or just investigate things for yourself.

Below is a list of social networking sites on which you can find IPPNW, our affiliates and individual activists.

Facebook (www.facebook.com) 61 Million Users

Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

There are currently 10 Facebook communities linked to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Please feel free to check any of them out (IPPNW, IPPNW-Sudan, MAPW, Med. Students for Global Awareness, IPPNW-Philippines, ICAN, German Medical Students of IPPNW, Physicians for Social Responsibility Philadelphia, IPPNW-New Zealand, IPPNW-UK).

Myspace (www.myspace.com) Over 100 Million Users

MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends’ friends. Create a community on MySpace and you can share photos, journals and interests with your growing network of mutual friends!

There are currently two IPPNW groups located in Myspace. You can view or join ICAN or IPPNW and communicate with other activists and concerned citizens.

Youtube (www.youtube.com) 6.1 Million uploaded videos; 500K registered members

YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.

Activists from across IPPNW’s federation frequently upload new videos documenting our anti-nuclear activity. We try our best to keep up with the volume and have established an IPPNW Group and an ICAN Group to help organize online video content. Frequent searches on Youtube will almost always yield new multi media projects from around the world.

LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 17 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.

By joining LinkedIn and becoming a member of the IPPNW Group you can link your professional career and all your lifetime credentials with your activism through IPPNW.

A nuclear-armed Iran?

A nuclear-armed Iran? Not according to intelligence agencies of world’s largest nuclear power

The Bush administration claims that Iran has been secretly developing nuclear weapons were rebuffed in November when a joint study conducted by US intelligence agencies reported that Iran does not have an active bomb program and has not had one for several years. The National Intelligence Estimate, entitled “Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities,” while cautioning that Iran has the scientific and industrial capacity to produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so, concluded that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003; that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon; and that “Iran will not be technically capable of producing and reprocessing enough plutonium for a weapon before about 2015.”

IPPNW Writing Fellow Tad Daley discusses the intelligence report, continuing concerns about Iran, and the responsibility of the US and other nuclear weapon states for the ongoing proliferation threat in a new article available here.

Click here to read the National Intelligence Estimate.

Click here to visit Tad’s Website.

Elevated cancer rates

IPPNW-Germany warns of elevated cancer rates near nuclear plants

IPPNW-Germany is focusing public attention on a new study providing evidence that children under the age of five who live near nuclear power plants stations contract cancer at higher rates than the national average. The study was paid for by the Federal Radiation Protection Agency (BfS), the German government’s main adviser on nuclear health, and was conducted by the German Register of Child Cancer.

Among the findings were a 60 percent increase in cancer risk for children living within five kilometers (three miles) of nuclear power plants and a 117 percent increase in leukemia risk. The study looked at statistics between 1980 and 2003 in regions near 21 reactors or former reactors.

The German affiliate had been lobbying for the study since 2001, collecting more than 10,000 letters from citizens demanding that BfS commission the study. The campaign was triggered by preliminary research conducted for the affiliate by Dr. Alfred Körblein (Environment Institute Munich), who found significantly higher child cancer incidence near Bavarian nuclear power stations.

“Now that the connection between increased cancer and leukaemia rates and proximity of the residence to the nuclear power station has been established, the causes of this must be further clarified immediately,” said Dr. Angelika Claussen, Chair of IPPNW-Germany. She added that “The precautionary principle enshrined in European environment law now demands that the German nuclear power stations be switched off immediately” and that ” the burden of proof of cause of illness should no longer have to be borne by parents, but conversely by the operators of the nuclear installations.”

The executive summary of the German report can be found on the IPPNW European regional website. [www.ippnw-europe.org]

IPPNW World Congress

Still time to register for World Congress in Delhi

Hundreds of doctors, medical students, nuclear abolitionists, and peace activists from around the world will converge on Delhi, India in March for IPPNW’s 18th World Congress. Indian Doctors for Peace and Development, the host affiliate and organizer of the Congress, promises an educational and social program that will highlight the emerging role of India and the South Asian region in developing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing peace and security challenges.

Plenary and workshop speakers will focus on regional and international campaigns for nuclear abolition, the prevention of small arms violence, globalization and health, and energy security and the environment. Among the scheduled speakers are prominent Indian officials, including President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Health Minister Dr. Ambumani Ramadoss, and members of Parliament who will answer questions about national and regional security concerns during a special Dialogues With Decision Makers plenary.

To register for the Congress, and for more information about the program, accommodations, and post-Congress tours, please visit www.ippnw2008.org.