The development of the physicians' peace movements

A brief historical account is given of the development of medical ethics, and of the gradual assumption of medical responsibilities in relation to victims of war. The idea that the medical profession as a whole should be concerned with health problems throughout the world, other than those of their own nationals, is quite recent. Collaboration in this area began with the International Health Organization of the League of Nations, and was greatly strengthened by the setting up of the World Health Organization by the United Nations in 1948. However, the idea that the medical profession has a duty to try to prevent war, rather than to mitigate its sufferings, is almost new and arose largely from the realization that war involving nuclear weapons poses the greatest immediate health hazard to humankind. The growth of physicians’ organizations during the past 30, but especially the past 5 or 6 years, is described, and the significance of their federation to form International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War is discussed. The special role which physicians’ organizations can play in the solution of what is essentially a political problem—namely the scaling down and elimination of nuclear weapons—is briefly reviewed.