The WHO Resolution on the Effects of Nuclear War on Public Health and the Associated Editorial

It took over a year – based on an initial proposal tabled by international Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), and with energetic action by IPPNW and a number of key countries, supported by an editorial that was published in medical journals around the world [1], with the official backing of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) – and it came to a successful conclusion at the World Health Assembly on 26 May 2025, when 86 countries voted in favour of “Pillar 3, 18.1 Effects of Nuclear War on Public Health”: WHO regained its mandate to re-engage with nuclear weapons and health and committed to preparing new reports on the subject. WHO had lost this mandate in 2020 in a routine conclusion of its term. Reports on nuclear weapons and health had been published in 1983, 1987 and 1993, but nothing since then. Now, with this new mandate, WHO resolves to update the reports, cooperate with relevant parties and other United Nations bodies and international organizations, and report to the World Health Assembly in 2029 on progress in the implementation of this resolution.