Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T20:29:19.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nuclear War in the Middle East: Where is the Voice of Medicine and Public Health?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2011

Cham E. Dallas  and
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.
Cham E. Dallas
Affiliation:
Director, Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia USA
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.*
Affiliation:
Senior Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC USA Senior Fellow and Scientist, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
*
Correspondence: Frederick M. Burkle, Jr., MD, MPH, DTM Harvard Humanitarian Initiative14 Story Street, 2nd FloorCambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 808-262-2098 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Once again, the politically volatile Middle East and accompanying rhetoric has escalated the risk of a major nuclear exchange. Diplomatic efforts have failed to make the medical consequences of such an exchange a leading element in negotiations. The medical and academic communities share this denial. Without exaggeration, the harsh reality of the enormous consequences of an imminently conceivable nuclear war between Iran and Israel will encompass an unprecedented millions of dead and an unavoidable decline in public health and environmental devastation that would impact major populations in the Middle East for decades to come. Nuclear deterrence and the uncomfortable but real medical and public health consequences must become an integral part of a broader global health diplomacy that emphasizes health security along with poverty reduction and good governance.

Keywords

global healthmedical diplomacynuclear deterrencenuclear warpublic health emergenciessocial justice
Type
Commentary
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 26 , Issue 5 , October 2011 , pp. 383 - 385
Copyright
Copyright Dallas © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cordesman, AH: Iran, Israel and Nuclear War. Washington, D.C., Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Available at http://www.csis.olrg/burke. Accessed 22 July 2010Google Scholar
Beker, WK, Buescher, TM, Cioffi, WG, et al.: Combined radiation and thermal injury after nuclear attack. In: Brown, D., Weiss, JF, MacVittie, TJ, and Pillai, MV (eds), Treatment of Radiation Injuries. New York: Plenum, 1990Google Scholar
Beker, WK, Buescher, TM, Cioffi, WG: Combined radiation and thermal injury after nuclear attack. Treatment of Radiation Injuries. W. J. Brown D, Mac Vittie TJ. New York: Plenum, 1990.Google Scholar
Bell, WC, Dallas, CE: Vulnerability of populations and the urban health care systems to nuclear weapon attack—Examples from four American cities. Int J Health Geogr 2007;6:50CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, J. An Attack on Iran: Back on the Table. TIME. Thursday 15 July 2010. Available at http://.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2003921,00.html. Accessed 17 July 2010.Google Scholar
Abrams, HL: Medical resources after nuclear war: availability vs. need. JAMA 1984;252:653–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
British Medical Association: The Medical Effects of Nuclear War: The Report of the British Medical Association. Published on behalf of the British Medical Association’s Board of Science and Education. Chichester: John Wiley Press. 1983, pp 188.Google Scholar
Feldbaum, H, Michaud, J: Health diplomacy and the enduring relevance of foreign policy interests. PLos Medicine 2010;7(4):1–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kickbusch, I, Erk, C: Global health diplomacy: the new recognition of health in foreign policy. In: Clapham, A, Robinson, M, Hangartner, S (eds), Realizing the Right to Health. Zurisch, Switzerland: Ruffer & Rub Publishers, 2009, pp 517–524.Google Scholar