AN APPEAL TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE U.S.S.R. SUPREME SOVIET
Student
The growing threat of thermonuclear war and the continued development and proliferation of nuclear weapons have compelled us as physicians to examine in detail the consequences such a war would have on the people of our nations and of the world, whose health and survival are our professional commitment.
During the past several days, physicians and scientists from 31 countries have gathered to consider relevant data on the immediate and long term effects of a nuclear conflict. We were unanimous in concluding that:
. . . The growth in sheer numbers of nuclear weapons and the increasing complexity and sophistication of delivery systems increase the possibility that a nuclear conflict may be triggered by tragic accident.
Physicians are aware from their daily work that technologic systems are liable to malfunction and that human performance may fail because of mental derangement or even simple error. Whereas such failures in medicine may jeopardise a single life, the malfunctioning of military systems may now endanger the existence of humanity....
