PSR Activities at APHA

SF Bay Area PSR Steering Committee Members and Staff are organizing, presenting, moderating, and/or facilitating a number of sessions at this year’s APHA annual meeting in San Francisco October 27-31, 2012.

Some highlights include:

PSR BOOTH

PSR will have a booth in the exhibit hall, with information from National PSR and our local chapter, as well as information on APHA’s Peace Caucus. Booth #1720.

PRESENTATIONS

• “What’s in Our Food and Our Bodies: Using New Technologies to Test for Known and Unknown Chemicals” with Dr. Sarah Janssen, Steering Committee Member
• “Protecting Reproductive Health Through Policy Advocacy Training” with Dr. Marj Plumb, Consulting Director and Ms. Patrice Sutton, Chapter Member
• “Impact of War on Women’s Health” with Ms. Patrice Sutton
• “Nuclear Famine: A Billion People at Risk” with Dr. Ira Helfand, Board of Directors, National PSR
• “Organizing Health Workers for Peace and Justice Within and Beyond APHA” with Dr. Robert Gould, President
• “Advancing APHA’s Policy “The Role of Public Health Practitioners, Academics, and Advocates in Relation to Armed Conflict and War” with Ms. Patrice Sutton and Dr. Robert Gould

Members of SF Bay Area PSR and national PSR have been integral leaders within APHA’s Peace Caucus for over a quarter-century. This year, the Peace Caucus is organizing five exciting sessions featuring PSR leaders (see in schedule below)

Below is a schedule of all PSR-related activities:

MONDAY OCTOBER 29

8:30-10:00am

Rape in War: History, Consequences, and Human Rights Issues (Session #3072.0)

Dr. Martin Donohoe, presenter

12:30-2:00pm

War, Terrorism and Public Health (Session #3257, Peace Caucus Session)

Dr. Vic Sidel and Dr. Barry Levy, moderators; Dr. Sidel and Dr. Ira Helfand, presenters

4:30-6:00pm

War and Public Health: A Lifecourse Perspective (Sesssion #3441, Peace Caucus Session)

Dr. Vic Sidel and Dr. Barry Levy, moderators; Dr. Levy and Ms. Patrice Sutton, presenters

4:30-6:00pm

From colonial exploitation, racism, and apartheid to  contemporary economic, health, and human rights disparities among racial and ethnic minorities (Session #3447.0)

With Dr. Martin Donohoe, presenter

TUESDAY OCTOBER 30

12:30-2:00pm

Caring for civilian populations in situations of conflict (Session #4238; Peace Caucus Session)

2:30-4:00pm

What’s in our food and our bodies: Using new technologies to test for known and unknown chemicals (Session #4297.0)

Dr. Sarah Janssen, organizer, moderator and presenter

3:10-3:30pm

Protecting Reproductive Health through Policy Advocacy Training (Session #267005)

Dr. Marj Plumb and Ms. Patrice Sutton, presenters

 6-7pm

Peace Caucus Business Meeting

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31

4:30-6:00pm

Advancing APHA’s Policy “The Role of Public Health Practitioners, Academics, and Advocates in Relation to Armed Conflict and War” (Session #4415, Peace Caucus Session)

Ms. Patrice Sutton, moderator; Ms. Sutton and Dr. Robert Gould, table facilitators

12:30-2pm

Organizing Health Workers for Peace and Justice Within and Beyond APHA (Session #5203, Peace Caucus Session)

Dr. Robert Gould, presenter

View from Fukushima: Pat Sutton’s statement to Parliament in Japan

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SF Bay Area PSR member Patrice Sutton and President Dr. Bob Gould attended the IPPNW World Conference in Hiroshima Japan and subsequently participated in an “eyewitness” delegation to Fukushima. Afterward, they participated in a press conference in Tokyo. Ms. Sutton spoke on a panel along with Tillman Rush, IPPNW Co-President; Jeffrey Patterson, Immediate Past President of Physicians for Social Responsibility; and Arun Mitra, President of the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development. Below is Ms. Sutton’s statement from the press conference.

Click here to read IPPNW’s press release on the World Congress August 24.

Click here to read IPPNW’s recommendations released August 29.

Statement of Patrice Sutton, MPH

San Francisco-Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility

At the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) Press Conference at Japanese Diet (Parliament)

August 29, 2012

I am deeply humbled by our journey to Fukushima and full of gratitude to the people of Japan who have welcomed us into their lives and provided us with the opportunity to witness the health impacts of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima.

Our delegation has listened to the experience and perspectives of a diverse cross-section of Japanese society, including local leaders, community members, scientists, advocates, physicians, academics, shopkeepers, an organic farmer and government officials.

Our journey took us through the beautiful Japanese countryside that is, paradoxically, the entry point for observing the local and devastating impacts of a nuclear power disaster.

I will be forever changed by this journey.

I came to Fukushima knowing the science that describes the health impacts of exposure to ionizing radiation. I left knowing that a nuclear power plant explosion breaks apart more than DNA. I saw that a nuclear power plant explosion also breaks apart the social fabric that binds families and communities.

I saw that the adverse health consequences of the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima touch all aspects of daily life and that these consequences will unfold over time.

Some of the adverse health consequences of the nuclear disaster can be observed now. These adverse health impacts include jobs that have either disappeared or involve extreme danger, especially for vulnerable populations who must trade their futures for a present paycheck. Today’s health impacts can be seen in the dislocation of families, the separation of children from their parents, the separation of the elderly from the young who are their source of joy and hope, the separation of friends and co-workers based on false beliefs that stigmatize people. The scientific evidence is clear that these social consequences of exposure to ionizing radiation are powerful determinants of health.

Other adverse health impacts will come later. The science is clear that there is no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation, and that even small doses spread among large populations will predictably lead to excess cancers and other illnesses in the years to come. It is also critical to remember that as one official put it, “The accident is not completed.” There is a serious and on-going chance of catastrophe at Reactor # 4 where spent fuel rests on a foundation that is highly vulnerable to the next earthquake.

Finally, as scientists and health professionals we know that the nuclear power disaster at Fukushima will ultimately be paid for by future generations. The capacity of the land to produce healthy food for generations to come has been severed in some areas. The mounds of blue plastic that cover the radioactive waste in Fukushima are inter-generational problems for which we do not have a solution.

Turning on a light to read to our children at bedtime should not require that we sacrifice the health of future generations. This is a false choice. There are safer solutions to our global need for energy.

Our delegation leaves Japan reinvigorated in our efforts to prevent the tragic public health impacts of the nuclear power catastrophe at Fukushima.

We believe there is only one pathway to prevention … to bring a global end to our reliance on nuclear energy. After the nuclear disaster in the U.S. at Three Mile Island the American Public Health Association, the largest public health association in the world, called for a moratorium on building nuclear power plants and urged that we re-direct our efforts to sustainable solutions to energy production. The subsequent tragedies at Chernobyl and Fukushima only underscore our need to urgently seek a new pathway to energy conservation and production.

We leave Japan committed to helping to usher in an era in which energy production sustains rather than harms our children, our families and our communities now and for generations to come.

Thank you.

Foreclose the Lab!

On August 5, about 200 people gathered near Lawrence Livermore Lab to rally against nuclear weapons and nuclear power in commemoration of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 67 years ago. Bob Gould represented PSR in the well-spirited crowd, which heard a number of compelling keynote speakers. Michael Eisenscher of U.S. Labor Against War spoke about the enormous amount of money spent on nuclear weapons, decades of military interventions throughout the world, and subsequent progressive decay of the basic fabric of people’s lives. Natalia Mironova of the Movement for Nuclear Safety in Chelyabinsk, Russia spoke about former nuclear weapons sites in Russia and the legacy of contamination among workers and communities.

Speakers highlighted the connections between the twin threats of nuclear weapons and nuclear power and the serious economic problems we are facing today. After the rally, people participated in a peaceful march and demonstration in front of the Lawrence Livermore Lab and placed symbolic cardboard locks on the lab gates to underscore the connection between the vast number of people facing foreclosure on their homes in the U.S. while over $185 billion has been slated to fund U.S. nuclear weapons development and delivery programs over the coming decade that threaten all humanity with annihilation.

Visit the Tri-Valley Cares website for links to videos of the speakers and pictures of the event.

Listen to KPFA’s Morning Show interview from the morning of the rally covering nuclear weapons and nuclear power, with SF Bay Area PSR President Dr. Bob Gould, Jackie Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation, and Natalia Mironova of the Movement for Nuclear Safety in Chelyabinsk, Russia providing their perspectives (be patient, this link may take a while to load!).

Bioweapons and Synthetic Biology

SF Bay Area PSR President Dr. Bob Gould participated in the “Tarrytown Meeting” outside of New York City in July. The Meeting was hosted by the Center for Genetics and Society to “bring together people and organizations working to ensure that human biotechnologies and related emerging technologies support rather than undermine social justice, human rights, ecological integrity and the common good.” Dr. Gould spoke on a panel entitled “The Dangerous Connections Between Biodefense and Synthetic Biology” with Dr. Susan Wright of the University of California at Santa Cruz. The panel was part of the conference’s synthetic biology track, which addressed the potential environmental and public health dangers of new synthetic biology technologies.

Dr. Gould and Dr. Wright’s panel specifically highlighted military issues related to synthetic biology concerns. Dr. Wright spoke about the history of programs purportedly developed to counter alleged bioterrorism threats to the U.S. dating from the Clinton Administration, which have pumped billions of dollars into pharmaceutical companies and biotech firms. The U.S. programs were accelerated after 9/11 and the subsequent anthrax dissemination, the source of which was probably one of the very U.S. government biological programs expanded in this period. Dr. Wright also showed how Pentagon’s DARPA program funded ambiguous “biodefense” work, as well as providing seed money for private, for-profit synthetic biology initiatives posing potential public and environmental health dangers.

Dr. Gould spoke about the history of biodefense programs, which have possibly violated the the Biological Weapons Convention by genetic modification of pathogens such as anthrax, and other programs working with highly lethal agents. Dr. Gould highlighted resistance within the medical and public health community against these programs, including PSR’s opposition to the smallpox vaccination campaign, which was developed as part of the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq War. This campaign provoked widespread resistance among health professionals targeted for inoculation. Dr. Gould also addressed PSR’s opposition to the proliferation of high-level Biological Safety Labs that were proposed to work with very dangerous agents, as such programs posed the danger of lethal organisms escaping into surrounding communities and possibly provoking a new biological arms race.  Read more about the Tarrytown Meetings.

Dr. Peter Joseph’s Response to New York Times Letter to the Editor on Nuclear Power

The letter below was written in response to the New York Times Letter to the Editor “Invitation to a Dialogue: Using Nuclear Energy.”  Dr. Joseph submitted his response, but it was not published.

Re: Invitation to a Dialogue: Using Nuclear Energy

Why is it that nuclear proponents always cite our seemingly insatiable demand for more energy while never mentioning its elasticity, the potential for massive improvement in efficiency of use, and the potential for a revolution in production and distribution of clean energy? Posing as “realists” they invariably overstate the arrogant assurances that “this time it will be safe,” the waste can be safely managed, and no bombs will grow stealthily from the fuel stream. Tell that to the Israelis now nervously fingering the safeties on their nukes as Iran, under the guise of wanting clean nuclear electricity, builds its reactors, also known as bomb factories. This world does not need more Plutonium floating around, even with Bin Laden at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Each nuclear power plant costs around $10 billion, and counting inevitable cost and time over -runs, takes a decade to build. Oh, has anyone figured out how to take one apart yet? How is that financed? We don’t have that kind of time according to the climate scientists and the IEA, who give us just a few years to get it right. Besides, who wants one one in their neighborhood? Can you imagine in a post-Fukushima world what a new nuke would do to property values over wide area? The Realtors alone would go crazy.

Now that the public is not so naive and gullible about nuclear power’s too-cheap-to-meter amazing benefits, it’s renaissance faces high hurdles without massive public subsidies. If it’s so great, let the “free market” work its magic without government (i.e. public) loan guarantees, and while we’re at it let them pay their own malpractice insurance, like I do, by getting rid of Price-Anderson. Why then not give those subsidies to a nascent industry that actually deserves it so that we –modern civilization — can live like every other creature on this planet: within its energy budget. Spend those billions on renewables, ignite a clean tech revolution in the US before we are eating out of the bowls of the Chinese tech industry.

Given that there is not enough money in the universe to build enough nukes to make a serious dent in carbon emissions, the real choice is between nukes and energy efficiency/renewable investments to stimulate rapid deployment of distributed clean energy production. I vote for clean and green, and if I have to reduce my consumption, well, after Pearl Harbor Americans did so willingly to support the war effort. Apparently that felt good according to folk lore. This IS war. It’s a war on carbon. A war for  survival of civilization as we’ve come to know it. Let’s not let our great civilization become too lazy to fail.

Put a steadily rising price on carbon, refund the money to households, get rid of subsidies to fossil industries and unleash the massive amounts of corporate cash just waiting for the Next Big Thing. The old nukes are just not ready for their come back. Try again when their next generation is ready for prime time.  Locate the first one on The National Mall and the second in Central Park. Then we shall see who’s the fairest of them all.

Peter G. Joseph, M.D.
San Anselmo, CA

Dr. Bob Gould’s Response to Op-Ed on Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power

On February 15, 2012, Marylia Kelley, Executive Director at Tri-Valley CAREs, a Livermore Lab watchdog organization founded in 1983, published an  Op-Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle. Below is Dr. Bob Gould’s comment, published online.

Thank you, Marylia, for an excellent and timely article. At a time when we are cutting money for basic needs such as education and public health, it is egregious that our country is planning to spend over 180 billion dollars on nuclear weapons programs over the next decade, when planned modernized missile delivery systems are included. We are in desperate need for creative programs to develop clean and sustainable forms of energy to avoid an anticipated public and environmental health crisis from global warming, yet the DOE historically, and into the future is hellbent on prioritizing weapons programs (and nuclear power programs) that encourage continued global nuclear weapons proliferation.

As a further example of the potential consequences of this lunacy, and the lamentable behaviors we encourage, an important article from the December 2009 Scientific American (“South Asian Threat? Local Nuclear War = Global Nuclear Suffering”) illustrated that in addition to potentially causing untold millions of direct deaths, a regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan could result in worldwide malnutrition through the blockade of sunlight from incinerated cities that could lead to over 1 billion deaths.

It is time for our country to take leadership, in line with President Obama’s 2009 remarks in Prague, in moving our country, and all other nuclear weapons powers, through rapid nuclear disarmament towards the global abolition of nuclear weapons, in line with our obligations under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Far better to use our scientific and technical skills to save our planet, rather than subject future generations to a desolate and uninhabitable planet.

Robert Gould, MD (President, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, Physicians for Social Responsibility)

 

Bob Gould’s Visit to Turkey: Blog #1

I am writing to report, somewhat belatedly, on an ongoing trip to Turkey by Patrice Sutton and myself on behalf of PSR and IPPNW, centering on an IPPNW Mideast/Mediterranean regional meeting that took place in Ankara a few days ago. The purpose of the meeting was to lay the groundwork for IPPNW support for establishing a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East, a stated aim within the concluding document from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty conference of 2010.

The meeting successfully concluded with an an important statement from IPPNW detailing a variety of important measures imperative for developing the basis for eliminating nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass detraction from the region.

This was our first time in Turkey, and interestingly, we arrived in Istanbul the same day as US Vice President Joe Biden, who had come to Turkey to encourage better alignment with US foreign and military policy towards the region, as well to better facilitate Turkish integration within US free trade policy objectives. Istanbul is an immense, sprawling city of close to 15 million people, appearing highly congested and very polluted on our arrival. We had a great time seeing the sights, and viewing first-hand the contradictions of a society juggling modernizing and Islamic trends, with the scene on the street including many women in headscarves in extremely fashionable clothing, not infrequently wobbling atop stiletto high heels.

Before heading to Ankara for the IPPNW meeting, Patrice and I had very informative meetings with members of the Istanbul Medical Chamber, and a few days later later with the Diyarbakir Medical Chamber in the predominantly Kurdish region in southeast Turkey regarding IPPNW’s work on nuclear abolition, including the objectives of the Ankara meeting. However, in order to more quickly report on the important outcomes of the Ankara meeting, I’ll report on those events in a subsequent posting.

The Ankara meeting was held on December 8 and 9th, and was attended by IPPNW representatives from a number of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries (see list of IPPNW signatories in the final). We received an extraordinary presentation about Mideast politics from Dr. Ozlem Tur, a professor of international relations from Ankara Middle East Technical University, who underscored the persistent difficult, and rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East, ranging from the currently intractable Israel–Palestine problems, through the very fluid and explosive situations in countries such as Egypt and Syria. As such, meeting participants recognized that at this juncture, it would be extremely difficult for the delegates to be able to adequately address underlying political issues that impact progress on disarmament in the region. Rather, delegates concentrated on developing a political document that advocated concrete disarmament goals and objectives that would speed the path towards nuclear abolition, and at the same time, by diminishing the volatility in the region, improve the chances for general peace in the Middle East.

I believe that the final document has accomplished just that–it contains a series of comprehensive, mutually reinforcing steps that would be necessary for achieving a nuclear weapons free zone. These include guaranteeing the elimination of all other weapons of mass destruction from the region, including biological and chemical weapons, which could be done by improving verification and inspection protocols of their respective Conventions, and increasing the funding to carry them out. In addition, the statement expresses opposition to planned nuclear power projects in the region that could increase the chances of regional nuclear proliferation, as well as indicates opposition to continued arms sales by the US, Russia, and other nations (exemplified by the planned $60 billion US arms sale to Saudi Arabia). The final document also clearly states IPPNW opposition to planned US/NATO deployment of national missile defense systems that have already been shown to be highly provocative to Russia, and which could unravel the gains of the recent New START treaty.

I’d certainly welcome any feedback from you about the document, which we at PSR/IPPNW hope will serve to help push nuclear weapons powers who have to date avoided upholding their explicit obligations under Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to move rapidly towards nuclear disarmament, and who have been resistant to achieving a NWFZ in a region within which regional nuclear conflict remains possible, especially given the presence of the Israeli nuclear stockpile, and the current standoff with Iran, whereby threats of an Israeli attack on Iran surface regularly in the press, supported, directly or indirectly, by numerous Republican candidates for president.

I’ll be back to you shortly with other reports discussing interesting discussions with colleagues within a number of Turkish Medical Chambers of import to our common work towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

All the best, Bob.

Dr. Robert Gould’s Oregon Speaking Tour

Dr. Robert Gould, SF Bay Area PSR President, gave several talks in Oregon in November, part of a grant-supported effort allowing members of the National PSR board to travel to selected regions around the country to speak on nuclear weapons issues.  In his talks, Dr. Gould covered legacy issues of nuclear weapons dating back to the dropping of the bombs in Japan, including the public and environmental health impacts of nuclear weapons development on local communities, and the profound budgetary costs of the nuclear arms race to date. Dr. Gould also explored the contradiction between President Obama’s stated desire to rid the world of nuclear weapons and his Administration’s planned marked expansion of expenditures for the U.S. nuclear weapons program, as well as the problems for safety and proliferation posed by the Administration’s commitment to expand nuclear power worldwide. In this context, Dr. Gould explained how an unfolding U.S.-India nuclear deal would increase the nuclear arms race within South Asia and negatively impact the Administration’s stated goal to control the fissile materials that could lead to the proliferation of additional states’ nuclear weapons programs and increase the risk of nuclear terrorism. Dr. Gould also underscored the lesser-known global impacts of even a regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan that would directly kill millions of people, including recently published predictions of ensuing “global cooling” that could cause over 1 billion deaths due to worldwide malnutrition.

The three talks took place November 17^th and 18^th in Portland and Eugene, OR. His first talk in Portland at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) was entitled “Public and Environmental Health Impacts of Nuclear Weapons.” This Grand Rounds presentation was cosponsored by OHSU’s Global Health Center. Approximately 50 people were in attendance, the majority of whom were medical students, and 30 signed up to work with Oregon’s PSR chapter. The talk was well received and available as a simulcast webinar around the country, and helped to solidify the relationship between the Oregon PSR chapter and OHSU’s Global Health Center, which will aid in reaching future students on these important issues. Click here to hear listen to the talk and view the power point Dr. Gould shared.

That same night, Dr. Gould gave a talk to a small group of people in Portland at the home of Oregon PSR President Dr. John Pearson.  In addition to the topics mentioned above, Dr. Gould shared developments from the national Board meeting, including ongoing discussions regarding the challenges of reaching young physicians, health professionals and medical students on nuclear war issues.  He pointed to the fact that many younger professionals are apparently more focused on the types of social justice issues that are captured in the Occupy Wall Street movement around the country and less compelled by nuclear weapons concerns.

The following morning, Dr. Gould appeared as a call-in guest for an hour on Jefferson public radio, a station that reaches southern Oregon to northern California.  Dr. Gould spoke on the issues he covered at his previous talks and also answered listeners’ questions regarding a full range of nuclear weapons and nuclear power issues. Click here to hear his talk (begins at minute 5:52).

Later that night, Dr. Gould gave a talk entitled “Nuclear Weapons: The Ultimate Health Threat” at the First United Methodist Church in Eugene. This talk was sponsored by Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) and Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) and was attended by approximately 25 people. Beyond the rich discussion that underscored the imperative of nuclear abolition, a number of questions that came up focused on PSR’s position on nuclear power. Dr. Gould addressed the organization’s extensive work on opposing the nuclear “renaissance” that has accelerated since the disaster at Fukushima, including numerous media appearances by many National PSR members throughout the country.

Exciting Developments from the National PSR Board

Dr. Robert Gould, SF Bay Area PSR President has also been a member of the national PSR Board since 1993. Upon returning from the most recent Board meeting in Washington, DC, he shared some exciting developments on the national level that impact the local SF Bay Area chapter:

“First, Dr. Catherine Thomasson has been appointed PSR’s new Executive Director.  She shares our chapter’s view regarding the importance of a deeper involvement on a range of social justice issues. She also has a great deal of experience with environmental health work that is developed by and oriented toward PSR chapters. Examples of this type of work in our own chapter include SF Bay Area PSR’s partnership with Health Care Without Harm and collaborations with medical and public health associations as central mechanisms for advancing a wide variety of environmental health issues, and for organizing new physicians and other health professionals into our work.  SF Bay Area PSR would expect support for efforts such as these, as well as expanded efforts in which our chapter can provide leadership in organizing other chapters into these projects, and help provide the programmatic basis for chapter development in regions that currently do not have a strong PSR presence. (Click here to read more on Dr. Thomasson)

The Board discussion also included  support for better meshing of our Security and Environmental Health programs with Social Justice issues that have become increasingly prominent in the midst of unfolding national and global economic crises. This integration is strongly supported by incoming President Andy Kanter as a way to facilitate the organizing of younger physicians and medical students. It will make clear the connections between our declining health and social fabric and PSR’s traditional work on nuclear weapons, the military budget and the national and global costs of the arms race.”

War and Public Health: Centralizing the Issue at APHA

PSR continued its strong presence at the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) annual meeting, held October 29-November 2^nd in Washington, D.C.  For the last 15 years, Bob Gould, Patrice Sutton and other core members of the APHA Peace Caucus have collaborated with past APHA Presidents Drs. Barry Levy and Victor Sidel in developing well-attended sessions. These sessions correspond to the variety of significant public health issues covered within the various editions of War and Public Health, Terrorism and Public Health (second edition just published!), and Social Injustice and Public Health that Drs. Levy and Sidel have co-edited for Oxford University Press.  Dr. Gould presented on “Environmental and public health impacts of nuclear power” on the same panel with Dr. Andrew Kanter, president-elect of national PSR, who spoke on “Challenges of evacuating impacted populations in the event of nuclear reactor emergencies.” Both Dr. Gould and Dr. Kanter’s talks addressed the health impacts of nuclear power, with reference to lessons learned from the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Dr. Gould and Ms. Sutton co-presented on “Nuclear Weapons and Public Health: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Headed?,” part  of the panel “War, Terrorism and Public Health.” Their talk covered the work of the Peace Caucus since its inception in 1985, in developing numerous anti-nuclear weapons and anti-war policies adopted by APHA. The presentation also highlighted the 1986 demonstration held at the time of the APHA meeting in Las Vegas, in which over 500 APHA members and conference attendees protested at the Nevada Test Site in support of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as a step towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. Approximately 130 protesters participated in non-violent civil disobedience. Among those arrested for civil disobedience at the 1986 protest were Drs. Robert Gould and Tom Hall of SF Bay Area PSR. In their presentation, Dr. Gould and Ms. Sutton emphasized how continued pressure for a comprehensive nuclear test ban is imperative today, to push President Obama to realize his stated aim of a “world without nuclear weapons.”

Ms. Sutton presided, and Dr. Gould served as one of the co-facilitators, for the roundtable “Advancing APHA’s 2009 Policy `The Role of Public Health Practitioners, Academics, and Advocates in Relation to Armed Conflict and War.’” In 2009, the Peace Caucus collaborated with other Sections in APHA to develop a comprehensive policy pulling together disparate elements that address war as a significant public health issue. These elements including direct impacts, such as deaths and injuries to soldiers and civilians, and creation of refugees; and more “indirect” impacts, such as environmental issues related to preparing for and conducting war.  The goal of the roundtable session was to discuss how to bring an understanding of war as a public health issue to other APHA Sections, to encourage them to hold panel presentations on this issue, and to support participants in working with public health schools in their communities to integrate this issue into the curriculum. Dr. Gould said that Shelly White’s earlier talk on the “War, Terrorism and Public Health” panel had great relevance to the roundtable. Ms. White presented original research in which she looked at the top 20 schools of public health in the country: out of 6,000 courses, only a handful addressed war in the curriculum, and none dealt with the impacts of military spending on public health.

Dr. Gould said the highlight of the conference for him and many others was a Special Session honoring Dr. Jack Geiger, co-founder of PSR: “This session was held to celebrate Dr. Geiger’s work, which has been devoted to protecting and promoting health by combating poverty and racism, protecting human rights, and preventing war. There was an outpouring of appreciation by people who’d been touched by Jack. It was extraordinarily moving. Jack talked at the end and included incisive remarks about the negative impacts of the war on terror on civil liberties and human rights.” Click here for more information about the Special Session for Dr. Geiger.