Citation

Bozorgmehr K, Schwienhorst-Stich EM. Lancet 2018; 391(10116): 119-120.

Affiliation

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War/Medical Mission Institute, Wuerzburg, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30012-6

PMID

29353613

Abstract

The adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by the UN and the immediate support by 50 nations is, as Andy Haines and Helfand note, “a victory for the public health perspective over the misguided national power and security considerations that have dominated nuclear policy” for decades. Strong support for the treaty by countries with a commitment to global health is needed to safeguard humanity.

Because Germany is becoming an important actor in global health, strong and unconditional support for the treaty would be an influential political signal towards nuclear armed states and a motivation for other countries to provide support for this multilateral instrument. However, the German Government has refused to support the treaty, reiterating this position even after the Nobel Peace Prize 2017 was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. This absence of endorsement unmasks another incoherency in Germany's international policy regarding global health.

If Germany's commitment for global health is expected to go beyond engagement in the health sector, improved alignment of its international policies with respect to global governance for health5 is urgently needed.

The existence and use of nuclear weapons fundamentally threatens human survival on the planet. We therefore call on the new German Government to align their international policies with their commitment to global health, meaning to sign and implement the treaty and consequently to withdraw any nuclear weapons from German soil...

Language: en