Nuclear weapons threaten everything you know and love.
IPPNW is the only international medical organization dedicated to the abolition of these indiscriminate and illegal weapons. Together, we have a common-sense plan for their complete, irreversible elimination.
Global Nobel Laureate Summit on AI and Nuclear War
IPPNW was part of the coalition initiating the Global Nobel Laureate Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War at the Vatican in July of 2026 in Castel Gandolfo.
IPPNW attended the conference to advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons through the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and a permanent firewall on AI and related technologies and Nuclear Weapons systems.
The Rome Declaration adopted by participants of the conference called for “urgent, sustained and good-faith negotiations
leading, within an agreed and time-bound framework, to the verifiable and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons.”
9 nuclear armed states – US, UK, Russia, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea- possess approximately 12,000 nuclear weapons. These arsenals, possessed by only a few countries, have the power to destroy the world as we know it many times over. Only 3% of their nuclear power could kill up to every 3rd person on earth.
Around the clock, IPPNW affiliates are working to rid the world of the nuclear threat. Our affiliates know that the only answer to this existential threat is total abolition. We are hard at work to achieve this reality through the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Peace and Health Blog
- Thirty years on: The Canberra Commission
by Xanthe Hall on August 14, 2026 at 10:09 amIn its report, presented on August 14, 1996, the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons examined nuclear deterrence. It also proposes a series of concrete steps to immediately begin the process of nuclear disarmament. The report received significant international attention. Thirty years after its publication, opinions on its conclusions remain divided. None of
- When physicians diagnose war: Rudolf Virchow and the public health logic of humanitarian disarmament
by Dr. Ghassan Shahrour on August 12, 2026 at 11:08 amRudolf Virchow’s story first drew my attention through an unexpected detail: as a young man preparing for the clergy, he was told that his voice was not strong enough for preaching. The redirection seemed small, almost incidental, yet it changed the course of his life. I found myself returning to that moment, the quiet disappointment,
- “These trees are not only silent witnesses, but also beacons of hope”
by IPPNW on August 7, 2026 at 5:26 pmThe following remarks were delivered by Dr. Dirk Hoogenkamp at the Hiroshima Monument in Groningen, Netherlands on August 6, 2026. I am Dirk Hoogenkamp, a physician and a board member of the NVMP-Doctors for Peace, the Dutch affiliate of IPPNW. And today I would like to talk to you about a small tree on my
- Hiroshima’s medical witnesses and the Red Cross legacy: humanitarian testimony and nuclear prevention
by Dr. Ghassan Shahrour on August 6, 2026 at 6:17 pmOn 6 August 1945, Hiroshima became the first city in history to experience the effects of an atomic bomb used in war. Within seconds, thousands of people were killed, health facilities were destroyed, and medical workers faced a catastrophe beyond any previous experience. Many physicians and nurses died immediately. Those who survived confronted thousands of
- The rulers of the nuclear powers are slow learners
by Lawrence Wittner on August 4, 2026 at 12:00 pmAlthough 81 years have passed since the atomic bombing of Japan in August 1945, the rulers of major nations continue their reckless march toward a nuclear holocaust. The nine nuclear powers (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea), possessing some 12,100 nuclear warheads, are all busily upgrading and expanding