The WHO Resolution on the Effects of Nuclear War on Public Health and the associated editorial

From the tabling of the initial IPPNW proposal in July 2024, work accelerated in the Geneva office of IPPNW, managed by Chuck Johnson. Aided and abetted by a fluctuating team of volunteer students, and the input of IPPNW supporters worldwide, the Geneva team lobbied hard with country representatives and senior WHO staff. Before the WHA, Chuck Johnson represented IPPNW at a meeting with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, in which the DG was briefed about the proposal. Then work began in earnest to develop the resolution. Led by Pacific Island nations and Kazakhstan – in particular by Samoan diplomat Marissa Toomata, Marshall Islands representative Augustine Sokimi, and Helen Weldu of Vanuatu, representing the three chief sponsor nations – a resolution was drafted and submitted in November. The initial target was to have a viable draft supported by a number of co-sponsoring countries presented to the WHO Executive Board in January 2025. This was achieved with portions of the text still not “green-lighted”, but with enough momentum to have it approved for inclusion in the agenda of the World Health Assembly in May 2025.