L. Forrow et Vw. Sidel, MEDICINE AND NUCLEAR-WAR - FROM HIROSHIMA TO MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION TO ABOLITION 2000, JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association, 280(5), 1998, pp. 456-461
To determine how physicians might participate in the prevention of nuc
lear war in the post-Cold War era, we review, from a medical perspecti
ve, the history of the nuclear weapons era since Hiroshima and the sta
tus of today's nuclear arsenals and dangers. In the 1950s, physicians
were active partners in governmental civil defense planning. Since 196
2, physicians have stressed prevention of nuclear war as the only effe
ctive medical intervention. Public advocacy by physicians helped end b
oth atmospheric nuclear testing in the 1960s and superpower plans for
fighting a nuclear war in the 1980s. Today's dangers include nuclear a
rms proliferation, an increasing risk of nuclear terrorism, and the 35
000 warheads that remain in superpower nuclear arsenals, many still on
hair-trigger alert. Physicians have recently joined with military and
political leaders and over 1000 citizens' organizations in calling fo
r the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Global medical collabor
ation in support of a verifiable and enforceable Nuclear Weapons Conve
ntion would be a major contribution to safeguarding health in the 21st
century.