Members of democratic medical institutions take active part in campaign for nuclear weapons abolition

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Members of democratic medical institutions take active part in campaign for nuclear weapons abolition

Doctors and other medical workers affiliated with the Democratic Medical Institutions (Min-Iren) are participating in the international signature campaign calling for a “nuclear weapons free world.” Min-Iren is aiming to collect more than 1.2 million signatures toward the next Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010.

About 1,700 hospitals and clinics throughout the country, where about 62,000 medical workers are working, are members of Min-Iren.

More than three million patients belong to Min-Iren-related cooperative unions and ‘associations’. (http://www.min-iren.gr.jp/english/english-index.html)

In an interview with Akahata, Yoshida Manzo, Min-Iren deputy president, stated about the Min-iren campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons as follows:

The 2005 NPT Review Conference ended without any success due to the U.S. Bush administration’s resistance to the agenda calling for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

In Japan, grassroots peace movements continued to grow, struggling hand in hand with Hibakusha (atomic-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and in solidarity with the international nuclear disarmament movement.

The tenacious efforts that we have made during the last four years have contributed to increase the worldwide call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. I think these efforts have led to U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague calling for “a world without nuclear weapons.”

I want to welcome the Obama speech. It is exciting that the 2010 NPT Review Conference is going to be held under these circumstances.

In its “General Principles”, Min-Iren maintains that “We oppose the policy of war, which destroys life and the health of humankind.” This shows how we attach a great importance to the peace movement.

Determined to defend the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution, Min-Iren member medical institutions have established 1,113 Article 9 Associations throughout the country.

In solidarity with Okinawans’ struggle against the construction of a state-of-the-art U.S. Marine Corps air base in the Henoko district of Nago City, 1,700 members from Min-Iren visited Okinawa in the past three and a half years.

Min-Iren’s peace tours of U.S. military bases and historical monuments preserved to remember the Battle of Okinawa, which took place during World War II, have greatly helped to make the Min-Iren peace campaign more influential.

As part of the effort to send as many delegates as possible to the annual World Conference against A and H Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Min-Iren has produced a unique peace campaign.

We call it the “Bicycle relay for peace.” Many young staff members of Min-Iren-member hospitals and clinics, wearing anti-nuclear weapons T-shirts, are participating in the relay, which has so far covered 15 prefectures. They have toured roughly 2,200 kilometers in total, covering about two-thirds of the Japanese archipelago.

In the period from June to August, Min-Iren is collecting 0.6 million signatures for a Nuclear Weapon-Free World, half its goal of collecting 1.2 million by the next NPT Review Conference in New York.

Because Min-Iren members are engaging in protecting people’s lives, we are determined to make every possible effort to achieve the goal by joining hands with family members, friends, and patients. - Akahata, June 16, 2009