Nuclear weapons threaten everything you know and love.
IPPNW is the only international medical organization dedicated to the abolition of these indiscriminate and illegal weapons. Together, we have a common-sense plan for their complete, irreversible elimination.
IPPNW, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Back from the Brink released a scientific report on May 19 that finds a proposed U.S. missile defense system—dubbed the “Golden Dome”—would leave tens of millions of Americans vulnerable to nuclear attack while costing trillions of dollars and accelerating the global arms race.
The report notes that a comprehensive system capable of addressing modern threats could cost as much as $3.6 trillion—and yet would never be 100% effective, leaving hundreds of millions of Americans in target zones.
Key report findings:
9 nuclear armed states – US, UK, Russia, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea- possess approximately 12,000 nuclear weapons. These arsenals, possessed by only a few countries, have the power to destroy the world as we know it many times over. Only 3% of their nuclear power could kill up to every 3rd person on earth.
Around the clock, IPPNW affiliates are working to rid the world of the nuclear threat. Our affiliates know that the only answer to this existential threat is total abolition. We are hard at work to achieve this reality through the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The following remarks were delivered by Dr. Angelika Claussen at the SB64 side event, Peace and Climate Justice: Emissions, Finance and Equity, in Bonn, Germany on June 8, 2026. Hello, my name is Angelika Claussen, I am a physician by training and the vice-president of the German section of the international Physicians for the Prevention
by Ghassan Shahrour The 2025 ICAN report on nuclear weapons spending, released on 9 June 2026, presents a stark picture of global priorities. In 2025, nine nuclear armed states spent 119 billion dollars on their nuclear arsenals, a nineteen percent increase from the previous year, equal to 3,768 dollars every second (ICAN 2026, Executive Summary). These
by Ghassan Shahrour In 1868, long before satellites or nuclear weapons, the world confronted a deceptively simple question: Should every weapon that can be built also be used? The question arose after the Russian Empire developed an exploding rifle bullet that inflicted devastating injuries far beyond any military necessity. Russian military physicians warned that the wounds were so
One of the curious ironies of our time is that, although many politicians spout heated nationalist rhetoric, rail against foreign nations, and belittle international cooperation, this approach to international affairs is not at all what most people want. The climate of aggressive nationalism is clear enough. In nations around the globe, demagogues (usually of a rightwing
by Anna Khouri, IPPNW International Student Representative This was the guiding mandate for the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) delegation at the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA). At its core, the WHA is a massive, high-energy engine of global diplomacy, where the scale of international health policy becomes tangible. While official