Climate & Health

U.N. health agency urges nations to update preparations for nuke risks

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 senior agency officials.

, and John Heilprin

January 27, 2023 . 9:05 PM

2 min read

The four cooling towers at the Czech Republic's Temelin nuclear power plant (AN/Lukáš Lehotský/Unsplash

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."