Days after the Doomsday Clock moved closer to the symbolic hour of apocalpyse, the World Health Organization released an updated list of medicine and other items for nations to stockpile in case of a radiological or nuclear emergency.
WHO's new policy advice on Friday for catastrophic radiation exposures comes near the one-year mark of Russia's war in Ukraine, which has raised the risk of a nuclear confrontation with the West.
As recently as May almost half of WHO's 194 member nations said "they still lacked essential elements of preparedness for radiation emergencies," according to a report's preface by two senior agency officials, Dr. Michael Ryan and Dr. Maria Neira.
“In radiation emergencies, people may be exposed to radiation at doses ranging from negligible to life-threatening," said Neira, a WHO acting assistant director-general. "Governments need to make treatments available for those in need fast."
The 66-page document updates WHO's 2007 guidance for developing stockpiles in case of radiation emergencies, including information on medicine recently approved for clinical management of radiation injuries in several countries.
Under the 2005 International Health Regulations, it says, all nations must create plans have resources in place for dealing with potential health emergencies, but their efforts to establish and maintain "preparedness for radiation emergencies is consistently reported as the weakest area of preparedness in many countries."
In case of radiation emergencies ☢, what medicines💊 should be stockpiled by governments?
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 27, 2023
WHO update on critical medicines list for radiation and nuclear emergencies ⬇️
On Tuesday, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced the first change to the iconic Doomsday Clock in three years by moving the hands up to 90 seconds from midnight, a change from 2020 when the clock was set 100 seconds away.
It was the organization's first such update since Russia launched a full-scale invastion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The clock is now the closest it's ever been to midnight since it was first conceived in 1947 as a symbol for portraying the level of risk the world faces from existential threats.
Radiological or nuclear catastrophes cover the range of possibility from atomic bombings to meltdowns at power plants or accidents at medical and research labs. They also can occur while radioactive materials are being transported.
Exposure to high radiation doses can have immediate or long-term health effects. Only a few items are known to be effective against radiation exposure, such as stable iodine, chelating sand, cytokines and medicines for vomiting and diarrhea.
The report cites Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States as good examples for creating a national stockpile of emergency supplies and drugs to prevent or treat overexposure to radiation.
