Medsin's Letter to The Lancet

The following letter was written by Abi Smith and Jennifer Jones on behalf of Medsin. The letter was ratified by members of Medsin by online vote.

Reed Elsevier and the arms trade revisited
The Lancet, Volume 369, Issue 9566, 24 March 2007-30 March 2007, Pages 988-989 Abi Smith and Jennifer Jones

Reed

Medsin is a student organisation aiming to tackle local and global health inequalities. As future healthcare professionals we are alarmed that the Lancet is published by a company heavily involved in the international arms trade.

Reed Elsevier’s subsidiaries are responsible for organising arms fairs in the UK (DSEi) and abroad (Latin American Aero and Defence)1. Delegates from countries perpetrating human rights abuses were invited to DSEi 2005, where weapons used to carry out torture and cluster bombs were on sale, despite these being illegal for export from the UK2.

We believe that involvement in the arms trade is incompatible with the publishing of a journal committed to international public health. It contravenes several articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, notably the ‘right to life, liberty and security of person’3. Reed Elsevier is a signatory of the UN Global Compact, supporting and respecting human rights4. It is therefore breaking its own ethical code by continuing to organise arms fairs. Furthermore, promoting the sale of arms to developing countries undermines health systems by encouraging spending on arms rather than health sector development, education and sanitation5.

We therefore call upon Reed Elsevier to free itself of association with the arms trade. If they do not, we ask shareholders to reconsider their support for an industry incompatible with the realisation of health as a universal human right. Medsin are wholly supportive of The Lancet’s ongoing work on conflict and its position on this issue. However, if the association of Reed Elsevier with this industry is not abandoned, we must ask the The Lancet to find an alternative publisher.

Abi Smith (President) and Jennifer Jones (Secretary) On behalf of Medsin.

  1. Reed Elsevier – The Arms Fair Specialists. http://www.caat.org.uk/armsfairs/reed.php (accessed Feb 25, 2007).
  2. Thomas M (2006). As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela. Ebury Press, London
  3. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html (accessed Feb 25, 2007).
  4. United Nations Global Compact. http://www.unglobalcompact.org/ (accessed Feb 25, 2007).
  5. Oxfam. In the Public Interest: Health, Education, and Water and Sanitation for All. Oxfam International, 2006. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/whatwe_do/issues/debtaid/downloads/public_interest.pdf (accessed Feb 25, 2007).

Last updated on Monday 08 September 2008 at 18:39.