MSInternational And there are other non-lethal weapons, explosive remnants of war – the clearance of unexploded munitions, cluster bombs being used in densely populated areas. We are progressively concerned about exploding bullets in anti-per sonnel sniping. And we are trying to model armed violence relating to the question: Can certain patterns be predicted? MSI: … and avoided? Dr. Coupland: And avoided. MSI: Where do you see the future role of medical students in that con text? Dr. Coupland: Well, you will be – if you aren’t already – a part of the medical profession. As such, pri marily the recognition of the prob lems needs to be addressed by you. The message here is: “Armed vio lence is a severe public health issue.” Another point by preventive measures is the international law: I personally found it a recurrent pat tern that medical people do not take much notice of international law. If there is a call to action, I would say: Be a professional in your own field, but be aware of the development of new weapons and do everything possible to ensure that governments take seriously their obligations under international law to control the possible threats that the incred ible advances in biotechnology might bring. MSI: Dr. Coupland, thank you very much for the interview. Recommended Reading:
legality of weapons : a new approach The SIrUS Project”, icrc.org Coupland RM: “For when logic deserts us an Analytical Framework for Armed Violence”, The Liaison, Vol III (2003) No. 1, pp10 Coupland RM: “Armed Violence”, M&GS 7 (2003) pp33 “The Medical Profession and the Effects of Weapons”, Symposium (Montreux, Switzerland, 1996), ICRC, Geneva, 1996.
Ben Geisler at WHO headquarters in Geneva Ben Geisler University of Berlin (Germany) email: ben.geisler@web.de
Coupland RM, Korver A: “Injuries from antipersonnel mines: the experience of the International Committee of the Red Cross”, BMJ 303 (1991) pp1509, bmj.com Coupland RM:”The effects of weapons and the Solferino cycle”, BMJ 319 (1999) pp846, bmj.com Daoust I, Coupland RM, Ishoey R: “New wars, new weapons? The obligation of States to assess the legality of means and methods of warfare”, IRRC, Vol. 84 (2002) Nr. 846, pp345. “New Weapons”, Advisory service on international humanitarian law”, ICRC, Geneva, 2001, icrc.org Nathanson V: “Bioweapons” (edi torial), BMJ 325 (2002) pp727, bmj.com “Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity”, An informal meeting of government and independent experts (Montreux, Switzerland, 1996), ICRC, Geneva, 1996, icrc.org 1. Coupland, RM: “Review of the legality
Coupland RM: “The effect of of weapons : a new approach The SIrUS weapons on health”, Lancet 347 Project, Part I - Abhorrent weapons and ‘superfluous injury or unnecessary suffer (1996) pp450, thelancet.com Coupland RM: “Review of the
ing’ : a surgeon’s www.icrc.org/web/eng/
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