The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will honor Dr. Ira Helfand and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) with its 2017 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award on Oct. 22.

The award will be presented at the foundation’s 34th Annual Evening For Peace, starting at 5 p.m. in the Loggia Ballroom at Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore.
 
Dr. Helfand, who is an internist and urgent-care physician, lectures globally on the health effects of nuclear weapons and has published studies on the medical consequences of nuclear war in medical journals throughout the world.

In April 2012, he presented IPPNW’s report, Nuclear Famine: One Billion People at Risk, at the Nobel Peace Laureates Summit.
 
IPPNW was founded in 1980 by U.S. and Soviet physicians who shared a commitment to the prevention of nuclear war, citing that doctors have an obligation to prevent what they cannot treat. IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

For 37 years, IPPNW and Dr. Helfand have inspired countless women and men to work on issues of peace, justice and nuclear abolition in their communities and beyond.
 
This year, Dr. Helfand and IPPNW worked with 122 non-nuclear countries at the United Nations to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The historic treaty, when ratified, will enforce that nations never develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess, stockpile, transfer, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.

The Distinguished Peace Leadership Award is presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated courageous leadership in the cause of peace. The foundation has a history of honoring remarkable leaders.

Past recipients have included: the 14th Dalai Lama, Dr. Helen Caldicott, Walter Cronkite, Setsuko Thurlow, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Rabbi Leonard Beerman, and Medea Benjamin.

In addition to raising funds to support the foundation’s work for a world free of nuclear weapons, the Evening For Peace is designed to inspire the next generation of young leaders to work toward achieving a more just and peaceful world.

Students from local colleges and high schools will attend, thanks to sponsors who have underwritten the cost of their tickets. The event will begin with a reception followed by an award program and dinner.

To learn more about the Evening For Peace, visit wagingpeace.org/2017-efp or call the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 965-3443.

For more about the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, visit www.wagingpeace.org.

— Sandy Jones for Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.