END ALL WARS by Sharon L. Wallenberg

While war continues to rage in Ukraine, and the pragmatic, imaginative and determined President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to ceaselessly create innovative solutions, we can all hope for peace.  It is my hope that this can and will be accomplished, and that those responsible for the atrocities be punished. 

But what really underpins war, aggression, genocide and fratricide?  Here is some ancient wisdom:

As long as humans continues to be ruthless destroyers of lower living beings, they will never know health or peace.  For as long as humans massacre animals, they will kill each other.  Indeed, people who sow the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy, love, and peace.  (adapted from) Pythagoras.

It is my hope that the war in Ukraine ends, rebuilding starts, people who have left return, the healing process begins, the guilty are punished, and this never happens again.  And that all wars end or never start including war on the most defenseless of all, the individuals of other species.

STOP THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION By Sharon L. Wallenberg

“The most urgent health care need is peace,” according to World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In Ukraine, almost 1,000 innocent civilians have been killed, more than 100 of them were children.  Approximately 7,000 Russian soldiers were killed.  Without medical help, those who survived, but were injured are likely to perish also.

Along with the loss of life of innocent Ukrainian civilians including children, destruction of buildings, roads and infrastructure puts people with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and TB, the leading causes of mortality in Ukraine, at risk.  Displacement, poor shelter, and overcrowded living conditions will increase the risk of measles, pneumonia and polio.

War has exacerbating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only one-third of the adult population is fully vaccinated.  Critical shortages of oxygen impact the ability to treat patients with COVID-19 and other conditions.

Health care needs are immense for basic illnesses, and more complex issues like cancer, renal dialysis, maternal and child health, HIV, TB, and mental health.

Refugees and those displaced in Ukraine are vulnerable, especially women and girls.  Protecting them from abuse and exploitation of all kinds must be a top priority for hosting governments and international organizations.

Although Ukraine is rightly the focus of the world’s attention, there are many other crises in which people are suffering:

In Afghanistan, more than half the population is in need, with widespread malnutrition and a surge in measles, among many other challenges.

In Ethiopia, the blockade of 6 million people in Tigray for almost 500 days has created a catastrophic food and health crisis.

In the Syrian Arab Republic, more than 12 million people are in need of health assistance, almost half of them children.

In Yemen, roughly two-thirds of the population, more than 20 million people, are estimated to be in need of health assistance.

The life-saving medicine we need right now is peace.

Send MiG - 29s! by Sharon L. Wallenberg

 

The courage, resilience, resourcefulness, determination, loyalty, imagination, and resolve of Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people in the current unprovoked act of Russian aggression is way beyond anyone’s expectations.  Also astonishing are the shocking actions of Vladimir Putin in waging a bloody, destructive unprovoked war against peaceful neighbors while telling lies to the Russian people.  This can only be described as pure evil. 

Failure of the United States and NATO to provide Ukraine with MiG -29 aircraft to defense of their lives and property in Vladimir Putin’s War, is nothing short of complicity in evil - motivated by cowardice.  No one wants a nuclear war – not even Putin.  The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should replace cowardice with courage and send the MiGs!