News

Health not bombs

Medact, the medical campaign for global security formed last year through a merger of the Medical Campaign against Nuclear Weapons and the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, has thrown its weight behind the World Court Project. This is an international movement which is seeking to have nuclear weapons declared illegal by the International Court of Justice, the United Nation’s highest judicial body.

The project operates at two levels: first, to lobby organisations and politicians to get an agency of the UN to call for an advisory opinion from the court. The General Assembly or the Security Council are entitled to make such requests - but so are other agencies, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Second, the project is collecting ‘declarations of public conscience’, such as the blank one enclosed with this issue. The idea of a worldwide petition to send to the World Court may seem naive, but the Hague Convention specifically states that new international law is to be based on ‘the laws of humanity, and the dictates of public conscience’ - the de Martens clause. The campaign organisers believe that signing a declaration will build the campaign in a very tangible way.

Why should Medact, an organisation of health workers, be interested in the World Court Project? Medact, which stands for ‘medical action for global security’, argues that war, and preparation for war, threaten our health in the obvious sense of killing and injuring. But it also damages the environment, exposes us to the psychological effects of a world order based ultimately on violence, and diverts limited resources away from socially useful and health enhancing projects.

This is apparent in the UK, but is an urgent issue in the developing countries of the South which suffer a spiral of destabilisation and repression. Nuclear weapons are arguably the most damaging in all these respects.

War has a far-reaching impact on health and health services, so working for peace in its widest sense should be a concern of all health workers. Medact seeks to galvanise this logic into action. It is well placed to further the project at the political level: steering resolutions through the UN is no easy matter. Although WHO is the most likely vehicle, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War has already had some success.

Medact is also working to raise the issue in a number of medical organisations. Resolutions in support of, and affilitations to, the World Court Project will all help to raise its profile.

Medact, 601 Holloway Road, London N19 4DJ. 071-272 2020. World Court Project, c/o G Farebrother, 67 Summerheath Road, Hailsham, Sussex BN27 3DR. 0323-844269.