The Health Policy Agenda and the Prevention of Nuclear War-Reply

Abstract

In Reply.— The threat of nuclear war, and preventing it from ever happening, is an issue that is beyond the scope of the Health Policy Agenda (HPA) project. The HPA project undertook the design of a health system for the United States that anticipates the health needs of the country into the next century. Many agree that there is no adequate medical response to a total nuclear war and that prevention of nuclear war is therefore the only rational international policy. However, the prevention of nuclear war is an issue that requires an international political solution. It cannot be accomplished through the design of a health system. Thus, while the threat of nuclear war is one factor in the environment within which the HPA was conducted, no attempt was made to address it directly.