Remembering Hiroshima

In Coventry, the annual ceremony involves the exchanges of greetings between the Mayors of Coventry and Hiroshima and a message on behalf of King Charles III’s representative by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands, David Moorcroft. Coventry remains committed to its name as ‘City of Peace and Reconciliation’ working with many cities around the world which have experienced the destruction and recovery from war.

In Hiroshima the active promotion of peace through the stories of the hibakusha continues. The testimonies of survivors have been recorded because there are not many of them left to tell their stories. Takiguchi Sakae, one of the Hiroshima bomb survivors said: “Everyone is different. And if we learn to accept each other’s differences, the world would be much more peaceful. 

What are the lessons for today? 

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists believes we are even closer to midnight on the clock of nuclear disaster – by design, accident, or miscalculation, or the lust for destruction of powerful men  – with more nuclear flashpoints than ever before – Taiwan-China, North Korea, India-Pakistan, Israel, US against Iran, Russia in Ukraine…  

The drive to re-arm is not for defensive weapons but for faster, earlier strike capabilities. In the current UK defence review, a greater proportion than ever before will be spent on nuclear weapons; making the UK the third largest spender on nuclear weapons after USA and China. All of this adds to international distrust, instability, and the prospect of war by accident or miscalculation.

In the context of global, ‘geopolitical health’, neoliberal policies have created ever greater inequalities in income between the super-rich and the extremely poor, between countries and within countries… Culture wars, funded by billionaires, tech, military and fossil fuel interests, blame migrants, minorities, other religions and other countries for the abject poverty and cruelty ordinary people face in their daily lives. Even in Japan, there has been a rise in fear of outsiders. Japan is increasing its arms spending towards a 2% share of GDP.

Coventry’s Alternative Employment Research, ‘CARE’,1986-1994: military industry can be directed to healthier, socially useful purposes

More than forty years ago I was involved in Coventry’s economic campaign to diversify from military industry – the Coventry Alternative Employment Research. The peace dividend was briefly in everyone’s thoughts with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Peace was one of Four Dividends for a Healthier Future that I reflected on in my 2017 Milroy lecture for the Royal College of Physicians of London. Campaigners at the Cathedral reminded us of how tied up we are in the interests of the military-industrial-financial complex. Large portions of the West Midlands Councils Pension fund invested in British Aerospace (£12.2M), General Dynamics (£3.4M), Raytheon (RTX-£2.1M), Boeing (£1.6M), Lockheed Martin (£1.4M) and Northrop Grumman (£1.2M) Mark Bellis and colleagues have brought up to date the arguments for the peace dividend in his great series of papers for the BMJ in 2024 and 2025, the armaments industry as a commercial determinant of health. What appears to be new or at least more refined is how the tech interests normalise destruction and dehumanisation of others, through the games industry and through the active engagement of the military in media. 

The destructive effects of the information revolution

More generally around the world, social media fuels and monetises hatred and mistrust – and normalises outrage, amplifies marginal belief and behaviour, and enhances the audiences of the extreme. All this while earning billions for the tech bros and helping them distract attention from where the real sources of everyday misery are coming from. In the information revolution, fear is a natural and permanent state of mind.  Conflict becomes the expectation, and whole populations can be pacified and rendered helpless and manipulated.…. all this at a time when we all need to find peace, take action where we can, and step back from the abyss.  

What does the public health community need to learn?

In recent polling in Britain, public opinion seems to understand that security is more than just protection from military danger – people recognise that climate insecurity, environmental and economic insecurity endanger them and their families and society as well. The Polish presidency of the European Union in 2025, Security Europe! recognised this need for societal protection. The public health community is well placed to convey the need for societies and governments to respond to all risks – military, health and social security, environmental, and economic risks. Basic biological needs are once again priority in the public health agenda food, clean water, shelter, clean air, and sound soil. We need better preparedness by governments and communities with key involvement from public health leaders. And we must end the nuclear arms race before it ends us.

In the public health community, concerns are growing about the prevention and management of all forms of violence – from domestic to global. There is renewed interest in the science and   epidemiology of the effects, the prevention and response to war and conflict. In addition to our concerns about traditional aspects of the public health role during conflict, we must also reflect more deeply, our place in the active promotion of peace, and the recovery and rehabilitation. Health promotion is peace promotion, and the global health community has pursued the idea of health as a bridge for peace for many years. Progress of the WHO’s Global Health and Peace Initiative was presented at a meeting of the World Health Assembly in May. An updated road map is awaited. GNAPH has formalised its role in the Peace and health practitioners.  Still much remains to be done.