An introduction to issues addressed by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (NB - last updated 2006 - see www.ican.org for more up-to-date resources).
GENEVA, 8 MAY 2008. The Australian government has raised several important issues which could help advance the abolition of nuclear weapons, during meetings on the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty this week.
MAPW immediate Past President Dr Tilman Ruff has been invited to represent Australian non-governmental organisations on the Australian delegation to the 2008 Preparatory Committee for the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPTi PrepCom), which begins in Geneva in late April.
This is a 4-page overview of Securing our survival: the case for a nuclear weapons convention (2007), which sets out and explains an updated Model Convention aiming eliminate nuclear weapons.
The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War is an international medical organisation dedicated to preventing nuclear war and abolishing nuclear weapons. The site includes a detailed report of the human cost of the Iraq war.
Committee member, ICAN. Former Vice President and Branch Coordinator.
Contact:
fred [dot] mendelsohn [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au or via MAPW Executive Officer: (03) 9023 1958 or 0431 475 465
Professional Qualifications:
MD; PhD; FRACP
Current field of medicine:
Neurology: Former Director, Florey Institute, University of Melbourne
Special areas of interest:
Public health effects of war and preparation for war, both conventional and nuclear.
Background:
Prof. Fred Mendelsohn joined MAPW over 20 years ago after living in the USA for 12 months and being horrified at the number of nuclear weapons in the US and USSR. He was inspired by Helen Caldicott's activism and high profile, and amazed at the disinterest of other medicos and scientists. He notes: "It is very sad to see the USA, Britain and Australia so ready to go to war for such weak reasons. As health professionals, who see more deaith and illness than we would wish, it is repulsive to see such preventable and unnecessary deaith and suffering, particularly as the worst effects of war are on civilians."
bill [dot] williams [at] mapw [dot] org [dot] au or via Executive Officer: (03) 9023 1958 or 0431 475 465
Professional Qualifications:
MBBS
Current field of medicine:
Rural general practice
Special areas of interest:
Nuclear weapons. uranium mining, nuclear waste, health effects of radiation, Aboriginal health, the roots of violence.
Background:
Dr. Bill Williams is Immediate Past President of the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia).
A General Practitioner with over twenty-five years experience in community medicine, Dr Bill Williams' career has included clinical and public health responsibilities in urban, rural and remote locations, including ‘developing’ populations in Australia and overseas. He has worked as a primary care physician in remote Aboriginal communities in Australia's Western Desert, and in post-conflict zones in Latin America and Africa.
His research, writing and teaching interests include the risks associated with the nuclear fuel chain, the roots of violence, and the health of Aboriginal Australians.
Recent publications have focused on the role of health professionals in reducing nuclear weapons proliferation risks and healthy pathways to a secure global energy future. Dr Williams is also a major contributor to Vision 2030, MAPW's analysis of Australia's defence strategy.
Dr Williams first joined MAPW in 1983 out of concern about the nuclear industry, which he saw as the greatest threat to global health. As medical professionals, he says, "there's no point improving the nation's collective cholesterol level if we poison the earth for our grandchildren."
He has also served as International Councillor of the Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNWi) and as board member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons (ICANi).
