A united declaration, unprecedented in its scope, was issued on Thursday by over a hundred prominent medical journals globally. They collectively sounded an alarm, urging immediate and decisive action to eradicate nuclear armaments, emphasizing that the peril of a catastrophic nuclear event is both substantial and escalating.
This significant appeal arrives amidst persistent, albeit subtly worded, pronouncements from Russia regarding its potential deployment of nuclear capabilities in Ukraine. Compounding this concern are the recurring missile testing activities by North Korea and the stagnant progress in global non-proliferation initiatives.
An authoritative editorial, disseminated across a multitude of medical publications, implored healthcare practitioners worldwide to apprise the public and political leaders of the “profound hazard to public well-being” that nuclear weapons represent.
“The threat is considerable and intensifying,” stated the editorial piece, which was jointly authored by the editorial heads of eleven preeminent medical journals, including the BMJ, The Lancet, JAMA, and the New England Journal of Medicine.
“The nations possessing nuclear arsenals must dismantle them before they bring about our own annihilation.”
Chris Zielinski, representing the World Association of Medical Editors, described the unified stance as an “extraordinary development,” noting the unusual collaboration among journals that typically compete for exclusive content.
“The fact that these leading journals have all concurred to publish the identical editorial accentuates the extreme exigency of the contemporary nuclear predicament,” Zielinski communicated in a formal statement.
The editorial explicitly cautioned that any utilization of nuclear weapons “would precipitate a calamitous outcome for humankind.”
“Even a conflict deemed ‘limited’ in scope, involving a mere 250 of the world’s 13,000 nuclear devices, could result in the immediate demise of 120 million individuals, alongside global climatic destabilization leading to a nuclear-induced famine. This latter consequence would endanger two billion lives,” the article asserted, referencing prior research findings.
A Perilous Juncture
Ira Helfand, the former president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and a co-author of the editorial, informed AFP that “We are presently confronting an exceptionally hazardous period, wherein the prospect of nuclear warfare is a genuine possibility.”
He drew attention to a recent commentary made by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who alluded to the potential use of nuclear weapons should Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeed in reclaiming Russian-held territory.
“While it remains uncertain whether these pronouncements are genuine threats or merely intended to instill fear, I believe we must treat them with utmost seriousness,” Helfand commented.
Furthermore, he highlighted North Korea, which Japan recently characterized as presenting a more acute threat to national security “than has ever been the case previously.”
The release of this editorial coincides with a preparatory committee meeting convened in Vienna, aimed at reviewing the United Nations’ Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a treaty that initially took effect in 1970.
A review of this pivotal treaty concluded last year without the adoption of a joint declaration, with the United States explicitly condemning “cynical obstructionism” attributed to Russia.
The editorial expressed profound disappointment, lamenting that “advancement on this front has been regrettably sluggish.”
Sunday also commemorates the 68th anniversary of the first instance of a nuclear weapon being deployed against a civilian population – the detonation of an atomic bomb by the United States over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
