FEATURE

Can’t provide medical aid
in a nuclear war — doctors

AIRLIE, Virginia — Physicians from 11 nations
gathered here March 20-24 to examine the effects of a
nuclear war on the human race at the First Congress of
International Physicians for the.Prevention of Nuclear
War.

In a preambie to a document containing the Congress’
proceedings, the doctors said:

‘Nuclear war. would be the ultimate human and
environmental disaster.

“‘The immediate and long-term destruction of human:
life and health would be on an unprecedented scale,
threatening the very survival of civilization. The threat of
its occurrence is at a dangerous level and is steadily in-
c x
‘Even in the absence of nuclear war, invaluable and
limited resources are being diverted unproductively to the
nuclear arn.s race, leaving essential human, social, medi-
cal, and economic needs unmet.

‘‘For these reasons, physicians in all countries must
work toward the prevention of nuclear war and for the
elimination of all nuclear weapons.

“Physicians can play a particularly effective role be-
cause they
e are dedicated to the prevention of illness, care of the sick
and protection of human life;

e have special knowledge of the problems of medical re-

sponse in nuclear war;

e can work together with their colleagues without regard
to national boundaries;

e are educators who have the opportunity to inform them-
selves, their colleagues in the health professions, and the
general public.”’

ee eee

The conference issued three public appeals:
To Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev and U.S.

President Ronald Reagan

We, physicians from 11! nations, guided by our con-
cer for human life and health, are, well aware of the
great responsibility you carry and of the enormous con-
tribution you can make to the prevention of nuclear war.

Ass physicians and scientists, we have . . . reviewed the
data on the nature and magnitude of the effects that
the use of nuclear weapons would bring. We have consi-
dered independently-prepared medical and scientific
analyses from many sources. Our unanimous conclu-
sions are:

e nuclear war would be a catastrophe with medical
consequences of enormous magnitude and duration for
both involved and uninvolved nations;

e the holocaust would in its very beginning kill tens to
hundreds of millions of people. Most of the immediate
survivors, suffering from wounds and burns, affected by
nuclear radiation, deprived of effective medical care or
even water and food, would face the prospect of a slow

tars excruciating death;

e the consequences of nuclear war would continue to
affect succeeding generations and their environment for
an indefinite period of time.

Science and technology have placed. the most deadly
weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the two
nations you lead. This huge accumulation imperils us all.
The interests of the present and all future generations
require that nuclear war be avoided.

The medical consequences persuade us that the use of
nuclear weapons in any form or on any scale must be
prevented. To achieve this, we offer you our: sincere
support.

As physicians, we remember that the eradication of
smallpox required intense international communication,

cooperation, and dedication. Nuclear war is a far greater

threat to mankind. It will require even more intense
collaboration among the nuclear powers to achieve an
early cessation of the race to produce these instruments
of mass destruction.

To the heads of all Governments and to the

United Nations

Advances in technology in the 20th Century have be-
nefitted humankind but have also created deadly instru-
ments of mass destruction. The enormous accumulation
of these nuclear weapons has made the world less sec-
ure. A nuclear conflict would ravage life on earth.

We speak as physicians in the interests of the people
whose health we have vowed to protect. The scientific
data concerning the medical consequences of the use of
such instruments of mass destruction convince us that
effective medical care of casualties would be impossible.

We, therefore, urge that elimination of this threat be
given the highest priority. No objective is more vital than
to preserve the conditions that make possible the con-
tinuation of civilized life on earth.

As physicians, we know that the eradication of small-

pox, coordinated by the World Health Organization,
required intense international communication, coopera-
tion, and dedication. Nuclear war is a far greater threat
to humanity. Continued discussion among the nuclear
powers and other countries will be needed to achieve an
early cessation of the race to produce these instruments
of mass destruction, to prevent their spread, and ulti-
mately to eliminate them.

To the Physicians of the World

We address this message to you who share our com-
mitment to the preservation of health. Our professional
responsibility has brought us together to consider the
consequences of the use of nuclear weapons.
_ We have participated in full and open discussion of the
available data concerning the medical effects of nuclear
war and its effects on our planet. Our conclusion was

Poster ‘‘No other earth” by Kiev artist V. Bystryakov.

inescapable — a nuclear exchange would have intolera- —

ble consequences.

Enormous numbers would perish in the first hours and
days of a nuclear war. The wounded survivors, burned
and affected by nuclear radiation, would face unbearably
difficult conditions, without effective medical aid, water
or food. The consequences of a nuclear war would also
be disastrous to succeeding generations. A major nuc-
lear exchange would inevitably bring extensive long-
term consequences even to countries not directly in-
volved.

No one should be indifferent to the nuclear threat. It
hangs over hundreds of millions of people. As physicians
who realize what is at stake, we must practice the ulit-
mate in preventive medicine — avoidance of the greatest
hazard the world will ever know. Your help is needed in
this great endeavor. We urge you:

e.to inform yourselves, your colleagues, and the gen-
eral public about the medical effects of nuclear war;

e to discuss the medical consequences of nuclear war
at meetings of members of medical societies, special
symposia, and conferences;

e to prepare and publish in the medical press and
specialized journals articles about medical consequ-
ences of the use of nuclear weapons;

- e@ to speak about medical consequences of nuclear.

war to medical students and to your community;
e to use your influence and knowledge to help
strengthen the movement of physicians for the preven-

tion of nuclear war. 3

Inflation hits hard at Jamaica’s poor

A recent visitor to Jamaica sends this report on
conditions on the island a few short months after the
victory of the arch-conservative Seaga government
which won power in a violence-filled election cam-
paign ousting the democratic government of former
prime minister Michael Manley. The writer has vis-
ited Jamaica on several occasions.

Re

One can say there are improvements here — the
streets are cleaned up and some potholes filled.
There are even some newly-painted bus stops.
More somewhat shoddy consumer goods appear
on the shelves.

Rice, flour, sugar and some other basic foods

have returned. The sabotage has clearly stopped,
making it obvious it was not the previous Manley
government which was responsible for the
economic shortages seen before Seaga’s victory.
It’s clear that attempts to bring down a government
by sabotage and destabilization have ended now
the elections are over.
- Obviously it was Seaga’s Jamaica Labor Party,
the big business community and right-wing media
who created the earlier chaos which led to Man-
ley’s defeat. In this campaign could also be seen
the hand of the CIA in a by now classic strategy.

Funds from the International Monetary Fund
and private sources are beginning to flow in, some

Seaga on the night of his election — a victory won
using the classic strategy of the CIA.

of which will be used to pay the interest on previ
ous loans.

But conditions for the majority have worsened:
Education standards are low except for the well
off. It costs $1 for a common lead pencil and abou!
the same for a scribbler. (1 Can. = $1.47 Jam.).

Some reforms in medical care were attempted by
the Manley government, but the hospitals are stil)
in terrible condition. There is a great shortage of
doctors and qualified medical staff. It’s interesting
to note that when Seaga expelled the Cubad
ambassador following his election he did not expe!
Cuban doctors working there because that woul
have been disastrous for Jamaica which cant
afford U.S. doctors.

Jamaica’s economy is almost entirely controtled
from outside (mostly by U.S. firms) and nearly '
manufactured goods come from the United States. |

Prices are sky-high: A Datsun costs $30,000 of

fridge with freezer, $3,000; a loaf of bread, $2.50;
dozen eggs, $3.50; chicken, $2.50 per Ib.; gasoline:
$4.75 per gallon and a sealed beam unit for you!
car, $80.00.

Free enterprise, as it’s called, is great for busi’
nessmen who never had it so good. But for thé
common people, who earn as little as $7 per day a

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 10, 1981— Page 8

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more. A common refrigerator, $1,600; a two-doo!

farm hands and laborers, it stinks. |