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Dear Ellen,
In March of
1961, a handful of young
medical professionals
heard Nobel Laureate
Philip Noel-Baker give a
talk in the Boston area on
the alarming spread of
fallout from nuclear
weapons testing, with
radioactive isotopes
showing up in baby teeth
across the country.
Moved by
this public health threat,
they gathered in the home
of Bernard and Louise
Lown, and they agreed it
was their "social
responsibility" to alert
the public to the dangers
of nuclear war. This small
community of colleagues,
joined in common concern,
formed Physicians for
Social Responsibility with
a bold vision: to protect
human life from the
gravest threats to health
and survival.
Today, 65
years later, PSR remains
committed to that founding
mission, and our work
remains as important as
ever.
Help
us mark PSR's
anniversary month by
celebrating our past
and committing to our
future with a gift
today.
As we
officially mark our 65th
anniversary this month,
I'm reminded of visionary
leaders like Bernard Lown,
Jack Geiger, Vic Sidel,
Sidney Alexander, Helen
Caldicott, Ira Helfand,
Eric Chivian, Christine
Cassel, Jennifer Leaning,
and so many others. Our
remarkable community of
PSR leaders deepened their
own expertise and educated
thousands of health
professionals, along with
decision-makers and the
public. They traveled the
country and the globe,
building a movement of
activists committed to the
health and safety of
people and the planet.
Take a look
at PSR’s historic impact
over the years:
- 1960s:
PSR published a landmark
series of articles in
the New England Journal
of Medicine detailing
the devastation of a
nuclear attack, and the
inadequacy of any
medical response.
Advocating for a
preventative approach,
PSR was instrumental in
the signing of the
Limited Test Ban Treaty,
the first international
nuclear weapons
agreement.
- 1980s:
PSR's influence grew
locally and globally,
establishing a network
of chapters across the
country, launching
educational programs for
medical students, and
co-founding
International Physicians
for the Prevention of
Nuclear War (IPPNW),
which was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in
1985.
- 1990s:
PSR expanded our mission
to address toxic
pollution, environmental
health, and climate
change. We confronted
the lasting health
impacts on nuclear
workers and downwind
communities, holding the
federal government
accountable for decades
of environmental
injustice.
- 2000s-today:
PSR released
state-by-state studies
of the health harms of
global warming, and we
successfully advocated
for stronger policies
regulating fossil fuel
pollution from coal
plants and fracking. PSR
published influential
research on the
worldwide famine that
would be triggered by
nuclear war. This was
part of a global health
and humanitarian
campaign that led to the
UN adoption Treaty for
the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons, making
nuclear weapons illegal
under international
law.
Today, we
face the future our
founders warned us about:
a world where climate
chaos and the threat of
nuclear war are daily
realities. But just as
those doctors did in 1961,
PSR is standing strong, a
powerful community ready
to defend our health and
our planet for the next 65
years and beyond.
Will
you honor our founding
65 years ago — and the
trailblazers and
leaders that paved the
way — with a special
anniversary gift to
PSR today?
|
Brian
Campbell, PhD
