Dr Marcus Yip is a board member of The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which last year was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
ICAN describes itself as a coalition of grassroots non-government groups in more than 100 nations. It originated in Melbourne and was launched internationally in 2007.
Dr Yip said the trip to Norway’s capital was “surreal”. “Hundreds of anti-nuclear activists descended onto Oslo – many of whom I met as medical students 10 years ago and haven’t seen again until now. The atmosphere was hectic, full of excitement, glee and still a bit of surrealness. Setsuko Thurlow, a Hiroshima Hibakusha, co-accepted the prize which was extremely emotional; to see her lifetime of work and activism recognised in this way was heart-warming and emotional.”
Dr Yip said winning the award, “is legitimisation of all the work we have done - especially the work with the UN and the Nuclear Ban Treaty”. “It allows us to say ‘we won the Nobel Peace Prize because we negotiated a treaty to make nuclear weapons illegal, and nuclear weapons are morally unacceptable’. It gives us a platform that we would struggle to get otherwise, and allows us to put this important issue to the forefront of people’s minds and agendas.”
Dr Yip said he became involved with ICAN when he was a medical student.
“A more senior medical student pulled me into a student group involved in nuclear weapons issues which catalysed me to attend an International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War conference in New Delhi,” he said. “The conference opened up my eyes – and once you learn about the atrocities of nuclear weapons, it’s hard to unlearn them, and the more I learned, the more I felt like something needed to be done, and to join ranks with other like-minded doctors to fight for this cause.
“ICAN was started by three Melbournians, two of whom are doctors of Medical Association for the Prevention of War, so as the campaign grew, I became more involved until I was invited to join the board.”
Monthly board meetings and holding strategy and planning days are just some of the things Dr Yip is involved in. “We reach out about our cause as much as possible – design promotional materials, write articles, do presentations and hold ‘street actions’.”
ICAN’s win generated a flurry of headlines, with Dr Yip saying reactions from family and friends, “have been great - so supportive and congratulating”. “Many of my friends from medical school heard me insistently talk about nuclear weapons, and I’ve made many of them donate their hard earned money to our campaign – so thank you letters and emails went out! And now when meeting with friends and family, they want to talk about nuclear weapons.”
After the achievement of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, what is next for ICAN?
“There is still much more awareness that needs to happen amongst our medical community,” Dr Yip said. “This incredible work that we do is only able to be done because of a long line of doctors that have advocated for peace and nuclear abolition before me. I cannot be prouder to carry this work on.”
“As doctors, we have a special role in advocating for what is right and scientifically sound, and we should use our voices to convince politicians that Australia signing the Nuclear Ban Treaty is the right thing to do.”
“As emergency trainees and physicians who will be at the front line of any nuclear disaster that occurs, we have to be resolved that, as with most things in medicine and especially nuclear weapons, prevention is better than cure.”
To find out more about the work of ICAN, email Dr Yip on [email protected] or visit www.icanw.org/australia