Medact

Medact

Founded	1992 (1992)
Type	Membership organisation for health workers
Focus	Public health
Location	London, United-Kingdom
Employees	7
Website	medact.org

Medact is a non-profit organisation and registered charity, whose mission is "to support health professionals from all disciplines to work together towards a world in which everyone can truly achieve and exercise their human right to health".

Medact was formed in 1992 following the merger of Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW) and the Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (MCANW). Following the merger of these not-for-profit medical peace organisations, Medact broadened its mission to include the health threats posed by climate change and economic inequality.

Their areas of work are spread across four main areas: peace and security, climate and environment, economic justice and health and human rights. Medact is affiliated to International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

Pamphlet: The medical consequences of nuclear war

Notable work

Between 2001 and 2012, Medact produced a number of reports on the health impact of the war in Iraq. They have issued a three reports and two shorter 'updates', have defended the Lancet surveys of casualties of the Iraq War and, as part of the Count the Casualties campaign, have called for an independent investigation into increased mortality in Iraq.

Medact has produced reports documenting the phenomenon of health worker migration from less economically developed nations to rich countries, which they describe as a "perverse subsidy".

Medact also work on the health of refugees and migrants in the UK, in particular documenting and challenging barriers to healthcare.

Medact have been involved in the Global Health Watch, a civil society project aiming to produce alternative versions of the World Health Organization's annual World Health Report.

Collaborators

• Quakers
• Médecins Sans Frontières
• Campaign Against Arms Trade
• Saferworld
• International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
• British Medical Association
• Royal Society of Medicine
• Health Poverty Action
• People's Health Movement
• Friends of the Earth
• War on Want
• Tax Justice Network
• New Economics Foundation
• Oxford Research Group
• Queen Mary University

External links

• Official website
• The archive of Medact (and its predecessor body the Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons) is held at Wellcome Collection, and is searchable in the library catalogue (SA/MED).