Crises seminar: Iraq war contamination 15 Mar 2016
Abstract: The toxicological impact of war on public health was starkly apparent in the Vietnam-USA war. A half-century on, generations of Vietnamese people still suffer from dioxin-linked birth defects and cancers. Only now is the United States starting to address that contamination, but even this small cleanup would never have begun without years of campaigning by global health advocates. Today, U.S. military bases have also contaminated the Iraqi landscape and increases in cancers and birth defects in cities encircled by U.S. military bases have been described. Yet international agencies and agreements entrusted with protecting humans and the environment have demonstrated little capacity to protect the public against war contamination. Global health advocates are therefore challenged to publicly campaign for laws to require cleanup by the perpetrators.
Come hear independent toxicologist, human rights campaigner and the recipient of the 2015 Rachel Carson Prize, Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, discuss her research in Iraq and the environmental health advocacy efforts occurring today in the USA.
External visitors will be greeted at the LSHTM reception and directed to the seminar room shortly before the talk begins. An audio recording of the talk will be posted on the Crises group website after the seminar.
Contact
For more information, contact jennifer.palmer@lshtm.ac.uk
