For Immediate Release:
Contact: Marion Odell, Coordinator
The IICPH Resource Centre
326 - 517 College Street
Toronto ON M6G 4A2
416-929-9808
mailto:info@iicph.org
www.iicph.org

HELSINKI, September 30th. The International Peace Bureau will award its annual Sean MacBride Peace Prize to Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D., G.N.S.H. and President of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health in Toronto. Dr. Bertell is unable to accept the prize personally since she currently convalescing and is unable to travel to Helsinki. Dr. Larina Skuratovskaya of Moscow – a long-time friend and colleague - will read Dr. Bertell’s acceptance speech entitled Terrorist Attack on the Global Civic Community.

(A copy of Dr. Bertell’s speech is available here)

The International Peace Bureau (IPB) regards the threats to public health from nuclear and other military systems as being of the highest significance. "We are honouring Dr. Bertell for her lifelong engagement to the cause of peace and for her deep concern for the well-being of peoples all over the planet. Hers is an outstanding contribution to human welfare and environmental awareness", said Colin Archer, IPB Secretary-General.

Born a US citizen, Dr Bertell has worked with and for the people of Bhopal, Three Mile Island and the Marshall Islands, to name just a few. Dr Bertell's many decades of path-breaking work in scientific research and public education have been an inspiration to peace workers across the continents. She is President and founder of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health (IICPH), a Canada-based non-profit organization created to institutionalize her growing concern for human survival. She is also Editor-in-Chief of International Perspectives in Public Health, a journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research on pollution and public health.

By choice, Dr Bertell works with indigenous and third world people as they struggle to preserve their human right to health and life in the face of industrial, technological and military pollution. Ordinarily, scientists testify from the point of view of either government or industry. Dr. Bertell develops scientific testimony from the point of view of the victim.

Dr. Bertell has served as a scientific expert on innumerable Boards and Advisory Committees. These include work on the Great Lakes; the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster in India; the health and environmental effects of Chernobyl; depleted uranium issues; and, effects of nuclear testing in the Pacific.

Dr Bertell has spent six years in a Carmelite Monastery, and is a member of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic Religious Congregation. She earned a doctorate in Biometry at the Catholic University of America in 1966. She is past member of the Board of Directors of Global Education Associates in New York. She has received many other awards, including The Right Livelihood Award (1986); the World Federalist Peace Award (1988); the United Nations Environment Programme, Global 500 Laureate (1993); and has received five honorary Doctorates since launching IICPH in 1984.

Dr. Bertell is the author of NO IMMEDIATE DANGER; Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth (1985); CHERNOBYL; The Environmental, Health and Human Rights Implications (1996); and PLANET EARTH: The Latest Weapon of War (Sept 2000 UK & March 2001 Canada) – all of which are available from the IICPH Resource Centre in Toronto.

The International Peace Bureau is the oldest and most comprehensive of the international peace federations. Its current main projects are the Hague Appeal for Peace Global Campaign for Peace Education, and a Disarmament Advocacy Programme. With 20 international federations, and 188 national/local member organisations in 53 countries, IPB brings together people working for peace in many different sectors: not only pacifists but also women's, youth, labour, religious and professional bodies. IPB was founded in 1892 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910. www.ipb.org

The International Institute of Concern for Public Health is a Canada-based NGO dedicated to helping individuals and communities assess and improve their environmental health status. Its primary role is to assist populations that have experienced environmental trauma - where people's health has been threatened or actually damaged.