This issue of Medicine, Conflict & Survival starts with both sorrow for the loss, but thanks for the life, of our editorial consultant Vic Sidel who died at the end of January. We are grateful to Barry Levy, his long-term friend and collaborator, with whom Vic published several books including War and Public Health and Terrorism and Public Health, for his awe-inspiring account of Vic’s many achievements which appear in this issue. Also to Neil Arya who takes over from Vic as editorial consultant and has shared his memories, and to David McCoy who has written a tribute to Vic on behalf of Medact. These pieces speak eloquently for themselves, and we think Vic would have liked them.
Last month an incident in the city of Salisbury in southern England raised the terrible spectre of chemical weapons. At the time of writing the details of what actually happened in Salisbury are not clear. What is clear is the value of having an internationally agreed ban on these weapons in the form of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and its agreed verification procedures should their use be suspected. The importance of the role of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – which promotes and verifies adherence to the CWC – in the subsequent and ongoing investigation in Salisbury is clear, especially given the heated and potentially dangerous claims and counterclaims of responsibility. We can only hope this experience serves as an inducement for over a hundred countries that have not yet signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – covered in the last issue of this journal – to do so.
The danger of nuclear weapons, and the ethical responsibilities of health professionals, is highlighted in a thought-provoking commentary by Rosemary Field. If mental health professionals in the United States are expected to warn against an unstable person carrying a gun, what can they be expected to do if they are worried about the mental state of a President with his finger on the nuclear button?
Following on from the review article in the last issue which examined to what degree palliative care is included in humanitarian assistance programmes, Isabel Pinheiro and Dilshad Jaff address this subject as it relates to a specific group: Syrian refugees in Jordan, giving an illuminating insight into their concerns and what services they find most useful – an important contribution to the increasing work on this, to date, rather neglected subject.
Medicine Conflict & Survival is committed to representing as wide a geographical spread of experience and expertise as possible. For a range of reasons academic publications can be weighted towards output from developed countries. In his commentary, Dilshad Jaff makes a timely and constructive critique of recently released mental health guidelines for the forcibly displaced, making this point among others. We would welcome other contributions on this issue.
Every year we remember the generosity of Douglas Holdstock and Jack Piachaud who set up the Holdstock-Piachaud essay competition, the winning essay of which appears in this issue. Congratulations to Elspeth Carruthers who takes an incisive look at the difficulties of getting accurate data on mortality from drone attacks and highlights the need to do so.
Thoughtful and engaging book reviews will keep readers up to date on diverse subjects: how narratives are formed after earthquakes, needed changes to current aid systems, caring for victims of trauma and its attendant complications, nuclear power in East Asia and psychological trauma among Canadian troops in the First World War.
The centenary remembrances of the First World War are a constant reminder of the devastation caused by violent conflict, and the challenges for both those who did and didn’t fight. April 1st 2018 marked the hundredth anniversary of the death of Isaac Rosenberg aged 28 years, talented artist and poet from a poor east London background, who wrote in a letter: ‘I never joined the army for patriotic reasons. Nothing can justify war. I suppose we must all fight to get the trouble over … I thought if I joined there would be a separation allowance for my mother.’Footnote1
Marion Birch
[email protected]
Notes
1. War Poets Association. Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918). Available at http://www.warpoets.org/conflicts/great-war/isaac-rosenberg-1890-1918/.