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Abstract
From the time of Florence Nightingale, humanitarian health and aid workers have dedicated themselves to the welfare of patients outside of their own communities, nobly sacrificing their own safety, economic well being, mental health, and sometimes even life. They witness and deal with the human consequences of violent conflict and care for those that are directly affected by it. Dedicated humanitarian professionals such as Albert Schweitzer, Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross, and James Orbinski, representing Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), all accepted Nobel Peace Prizes for such work.
The primary mission during natural and “human-made” disasters may be to assist persons in need, to shine a ray of hope, and to create humanitarian space, but health professionals in particular, are also potentially in influential positions to promote peace. With their direct involvement in healing they have a certain credibility with the global community, which can contribute to their influence as advocates for peace, whether through raising awareness of relevant issues with the general public or specific interest groups, or by influencing decision makers directly.
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Notes on contributors
Neil Arya
Neil Arya is a family physician in Kitchener Ontario. He is the president of the Canadian Physicians for Research and Education in Peace, and Chair of the PEGASUS Global Health Conference. He is a past Vice-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), which won the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize and of President of Physicians for Global Survival (PGS) and has written and lectured around the world about Peace through Health. E-mail: [email protected]