News and Events

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

Korea Summit editorial by Ira Helfand
IPPNW co-president Ira Helfand, in an op-ed published by CNN on the eve of the US-North Korea summit, says "The summit may well end without major progress towards the elimination of nuclear weapons in Korea. But whatever the outcome, the summit must be seen as an early step in a complicated negotiation, and the diplomatic process must continue." (June 11, 2018)

Mangamanga Mtonga honored with inaugural scholarship
IPPNW is pleased to announce that Mangamanga Mtonga, the eldest son of our dearly departed friend and colleague, is the recipient of the inaugural Dr. Robert Mtonga Memorial Scholarship. (May 10, 2018)

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

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

IDPD criticizes Indian government for refusing to meet with ICAN delegation
Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IPPNW-India), the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, and All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation held an international seminar, "The Landmark Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons - Opportunities and Challenges," on 24-25 March 2018 in New Delhi. After the seminar, the groups sought appointments to meet with a delegation from the 2017 Nobel Peace Laureate, ICAN, with the President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and the Chair of the standing committee of Parliament on defense, Gen. B. C. Khanduri. Only Gen. Khanduri responded, though he cancelled on the day of a scheduled meeting for health reasons. In a statement condemning the government’s attitude toward ICAN, leaders of the three organizations asked “why is the government afraid of the disarmament movement to the extent that it avoids meeting ordinary doctors who are working for the promotion of health for all by proposing an increase in the public health expenditure and by diverting wasteful spending on arms particularly nuclear arms.” IPPNW co-president Arun Mitra called on the government to cooperate with the movement for nuclear disarmament and to join the Ban Treaty. (March 28, 2018)

Don’t Bank on the Bomb 2018
ICAN partner organization PAX has published a new edition of the landmark report detailing global investments in companies that produce nuclear weapons. The 2018 update of Don’t Bank on the Bomb shows that 329 financial institutions from around the world have invested US $525 billion into 20 companies involved in the production, maintenance and modernization of nuclear weapons in France, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States since January 2014. Fourteen country profiles provide details about nuclear-weapons-related work of identified producers and the financial institutions that support this work. On the positive side, Pax researchers found that the number of institutions that have financial relationships with nuclear weapon producers has decreased since the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The complete 2018 Don’t Bank on the Bomb, as well as individual country profiles, are available online. (March 9, 2018)

Dr. Wareham awarded Canberra Rotary Peace Prize
IPPNW Board member Dr. Sue Wareham has received the first Chief Minister’s Rotary Peace Prize in Canberra. Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts and Community Events, Gordon Ramsay presided over the award ceremony at the unveiling of the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell in February. Dr. Wareham called on Australia to rethink the policy of building an economy on war profiteering and having a vested interest in wars and instability. “Going to war should not be the thing that Australia is good at and the thing that Australians recognise as central to their identity,” she said. (February 27, 2018)

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