Nuclear weapons are another post-communist health hazard

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.237-a

BMJ 2005;331:237 (23 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.237-a

Letter

Nuclear weapons are another post-communist health hazard

EDITOR—In their editorial McKee and Fister highlight manyof the major health issues in the post-communist countries ofEurope.¹ Another critical threat to health is the nuclear weaponsin various European countries, and particularly Russia. Accordingto a recent estimate, Russia has 7800 operational nuclear warheadsin its arsenal,² of which about 4400 are strategic warheads.This relic of the cold war poses risks of accidental explosionsor of missile launches, since some of these weapons are on highalert status. There is also a risk that actual weapons and fissilematerials associated with them could be stolen and sold to terrorists.Maintaining the system for producing and maintaining nuclearweapons is also a drain on national economies—with fewerfinancial resources available for health and other essentialservices.

Good riddance

Credit: DMITRY BELIAKOV/REX

European countries need to accelerate progress towards a Europethat is free of nuclear weapons. In particular, the relevantcountries (Russia, France, and the United Kingdom) need to meettheir obligations for nuclear disarmament under the NuclearNon-Proliferation Treaty. Other European countries that haveUS nuclear weapons on their territories (Belgium, Germany, Italy,Netherlands, and Turkey³) need to follow Greece (another memberof the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) in having these removed.Without such actions, European and other populations will continueto be threatened by weapons that are not able to deal with thereal security threats now facing the world.

Nick Wilson, senior lecturer, public health

Wellington School of Medicine, Otago University, Wellington, New Zealand nwilson{at}actrix.gen.nz

Competing interests: NW is an active member of InternationalPhysicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)—NewZealand branch.

References

McKee M, Fister K. Post-communist transition and health in Europe. BMJ 2004;329: 1355-6.[Free Full Text]
Norris RS, Kristensen HM. Russian nuclear forces, 2004. Bull Atomic Scientists 2004;60:72-4. www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=ja04norris (accessed 7 Jul 2005).
Norris RS, Kristensen HM. U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe, 1954-2004. Bull Atomic Scientists 2004;60:76-7. www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=nd04norris (accessed 7 Jul 2005).