Feature story

World Health Assembly passes resolution mandating WHO to review health impacts of nuclear war

The World Health Assembly has passed a resolution giving the World Health Organization the mandate to update a now 30-year-old review of the health impacts of nuclear war. 

Among the millions of paper cranes left at the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2015, a thousand came from a delegation of pilgrims from the World Council of Churches, and contained several hand-written prayers for peace. The cranes are deposited by Japanese underneath a statue of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died of leukemia from radiation after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Her unsuccessful bid to fold a thousand cranes

Among the millions of paper cranes left at the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2015, a thousand came from a delegation of pilgrims from the World Council of Churches, and contained several hand-written prayers for peace. The cranes are deposited by Japanese underneath a statue of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died of leukemia from radiation after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Her unsuccessful bid to fold a thousand cranes and thus save her life was assumed by schoolchildren throughout the country, who every year bring millions of folded paper cranes to the monument. The memorial was visited by a WCC pilgrims on August 7 2025. They came to Japan to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki for themselves, to listen to survivors and local church leaders, and to recommit themselves to new forms of advocacy for a world free of nuclear weapons, Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth Pictures

03 July 2025
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The World Council of Churches and its partners—including International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War—have supported such a resolution as one facet of the pursuit of nuclear justice from both health and human rights approaches.

The resolution calling for an updated assessment of the “effects of nuclear war on public health” was approved by a margin of 84-14 votes with 28 abstentions.  

It was sponsored by a dozen nations, including Western Pacific, African and former Soviet states that were deeply affected by nuclear tests of the 1950s and 60s, while opposition was led by the Russian Federation along with North Korea.

WHO produced two series of reports on health and nuclear war, with the last more than 30 years old. Those included the “Effects of Nuclear War on Health and Health Services” in 1983 and 1987, followed by a 1993 report on “Effects of Nuclear Weapons on Health and the Environment,” Chuck Johnson of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War noted.

“This will extend study on both of these issues,” Johnson said, adding that it would cover “a broader area of public health than the UN General Assembly study” mandated last December.

The support of many WHO member states for the review was palpable, and at times highly emotional. Pacific Island states recalled the legacy of nuclear testing in their region, which left long-term health and environmental scars.

 

Read the “Joint Interfaith Statement to the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons”

"Nihon Hindankyo accept Nobel Peace Prize, demand urgent action on nuclear threats", (WCC feature story, 19 December 2024)

Learn more about the WCC work on arms control and disarmament

WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs
 

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