Incurable ? Yes, indeed ! But first I would like to present me to you and state that this article is inspired from a really impressive man, Dr. Ira Helfand, co-president of IPPNW. I am Noah, third year medical Student at the Charité Berlin, Germany, and member of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). The IPPNW is a non-partisan federation of national medical organizations in more than 60 countries representing doctors and medical students who share the common goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world freed from the threat of nuclear annihilation. It was founded at the moment when within a few decades, two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, had amassed a nuclear arsenal equivalent to four tons of dynamite for every man, woman, and child on earth. But why we physicians ? Bernard Lown, co-founder of the IPPNW, had said : “The answer is clear. No single group is as deeply involved in and committed to the survival of mankind. No group is as accustomed in applying practical solutions to life-threatening conditions. Physicians are aware, however, that intelligent therapy depends on accurate diagnosis and a realistic appraisal of the problem.“ With our expertise as scientists and as healers we can speak on the threat of nuclear weapons and on the consequences of nuclear war. I already hear you subtending that we are not in the Cold War anymore and that so we do not have to fear a nuclear war. We are certainly not, nonetheless its structure remains among us. The danger is still here and it is growing. There are more than 16,000 nuclear weapons in the world, most of them much more powerful than the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although you may have heard about disarmament, the fact is that the remaining warheads are constantly improved and so are increasing in terrible destructiveness. Most of us surely shared the thought that the US and Russia would never get into a war again, the Ukraine crisis make us reconsider this. Even if these two superpowers in term of military stocks won´t be at war with one another, the danger of an accident initiating a nuclear conflict remains omnipresent. Recent studies have shown that even a limited nuclear war, involving less than 1% of the existing nuclear weapons, would trigger global climate disruption, cut food production across the world and lead to a nuclear famine which could cause the death of 2 billion people. This is the outcome of a limited nuclear war, a larger would be far worse. Let me describe you, with the help of a model, the consequences of a single nuclear explosion in the city I am living in, Berlin. Within a thousand of a second of the detonation of the bomb, a fireball would form reaching out for three kilometers in every direction, six kilometers across. In that entire area the temperature would rise to 20 million degrees, exceeding the temperature of the core of the sun, and everything will be vaporised, the buildings, the trees, the humans and the upper-level of the earth itself would disappear. To a distance of six kilometers in every direction, the explosion would generate winds with the speed of thousand kilometers per hour which would cause total destruction. To a distance of 9 kilometers in every direction, 18 kilometers across, the heat would be so intense that automobiles would melt. To a distance of 25 kilometers in every direction the heat would still be so intense that everything flammable would burn causing thousands of fires coalescing into a giant firestorm, in which the temperature would rise to 800°C (1472 °F). Within an area of 50 kilometers across all of the oxygen would be consumed and every living thing would die. In the case of Berlin it would be 3 million people dying instantly. The International Committee of the Red Cross had stated that the world lacks any “adequate international response capacity to assist the victims if a nuclear weapon were to be detonated“. Thus, a nuclear war would be an incurable epidemic which must be prevent by our medical community. Me as a student member of the IPPNW, I have the goal to develop and expand the IPPNW medical student movement and to make people aware of the threat of nuclear weapons. This is the mainly reason I wrote this article until 3 a.m while having my lectures starting in 5 hours. I would be glad if you talk about this really crucial topic with your friends or your colleagues or if you even start your own IPPNW group at your university or in your city and let me know. You would help us to reach our most important goal, a world freed of nuclear weapons. The greatest threat to human survival is not cardiac but nuclear. Get active or radioactive ! For more informations or some help just contact me. I hope to hear from you soon ! Noah Ayadi
I am glad to see that there are people who care about this crucial topic ! Just start a conversation in order to contact me and I will answer you...
Hi, Noah. I want to be a part of this movement against Nuclear weapons and their threat to our society. I am a Doctor in Pakistan and wants to be a part of it
Hello Naveed, I am really glad to hear that. I think that only Pakistani can achieve the disarmament of nuclear weapons in their own country ! Actually there was a Pakistani IPPNW Group, which was called Pakistan Doctors for Peace and Development (PDPD), I am not sure if they are still active but you could try to reach Dr. Ali Raza Khan Afridi, ([email protected], 00-92-300-2544932). If they don´t exist anymore you could also try to found your own group I can try to send you the informations you would need for this ! Best regards, Noah
