International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Doctors Without Borders.

It’s already known that a nuclear war will be the human and environmental disaster. It would immediately become global, total and final. After it almost all medical service, staff and facilities would be destroyed.

For these reasons, professional and human duty of physicians and health organizations is to prevent the nuclear war and the nuclear arms race.

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) is a global physician’s organization. It was founded in 1980. The initiators of this movement are Academician Euvgeny Chazov (Russia) and Professor Bernard Lown (USA). The contributors are Professor John Boag (Britain), Doctor Naomi Shono (Japan) and others.

The aim of this organization is to bring together physicians and apply their medical knowledge to the cause of preventing the nuclear war and controlling the nuclear arms race. Participants of the IPPNW Congresses focused on the physiological, psychological and biological effects of nuclear war. In 1985 this organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of the movement’s activities.

Another organization has become more significant nowadays. It is Doctors Without Borders, a private, nonprofit, international organization. It aims to provide medical relief to populations in crisis. Doctors Without Borders was founded in 1971 by a group of physicians. It offers emergency assistance wherever wars and man-made disasters occur. The organization operates independently of all political, economic, or religious influences. It depends on volunteer health professionals. Doctors Without Borders volunteers worked in Yugoslavia during the war, after earthquake in Armenia and during epidemic in African countries. In 1999 Doctors Without Borders was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its humane activities.

Who and Cooperation in the Field of Medicine.

WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations with primary responsibility for international health matters and public health. It was founded on April the 7^th, 1948. For the first time in the history it was truly global organization to protect and promote human health.

WHO activities take many forms:

- health education related to global health problems and environmental health;

- controlling and eradicating epidemic diseases; epidemic warnings;

- protecting mother and child health;

- improving sanitation and water supply;

- promotion of proper nutrition;

- immunization programs against the main infectious diseases;

- provision of essential drugs and vaccines.

The main concepts of WHO global health development are the concept of Primary Health Care (defined in 1978) and Health for All (declared in 1977).

It is difficult to achieve positive results in improving health levels unless there are close contacts between the countries. Thus international cooperation in medicine comprises many countries and organizations. There are three types of such cooperation: bilateral, multilateral and unilateral.

Multilateral cooperation is a collective work on joint problems facing several countries. F.e. cooperation between Russia and European countries (Sweden, France, Austria) covers the problem of transplantation, creation of artificial organs, oncological diseases. Bilateral cooperation is cooperation between two countries in some special spheres and on special problems. F.e. Russian-Britain cooperation in treatment of eye diseases, viral infection, in fighting flu and organizing emergency aid service.

Unilateral cooperation is that type of cooperation when one developed country gives medical assistance to some country of the “third world”. F.e. many Russian doctors work in hospitals and medical faculties of the universities in different “third world” countries.