ln talk of nuclear weaoons and warfare, we hear too little of the threatv to humanity .. .the devastation of lifeeand health an attack would inflict on mankind. Defense people and laymen speak nonchalantly of megaton and nuclear .warhead counts. the proposed MX system, and the possibility of countless missiles streaking between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, These are hard realities of national security -. but shouldn’t more attention be given to the consequences, should such weapons ever he unleashed’! Commendably, American doctors with some international support are entering the scene with this message, in essence: Nuclear warfare is the greatest health hazard humanity ever faced. An attack on a city would be the final epidemic. a medical calamity for which there would be no cure! The physicians’ antibomb effort formally began at a meeting at Harvard University last February, Almost 3,000 doctors how have banded together as “Physicians for Social Responsibility.” Dr. Helen M. Caldicott recently resigned from Harvard Medical School to work full time as president of the organization. Trustees of ‘ the American Medical Association. an influential group which can speak with an authoritative voice. voted to ask President-elect Ronald Reagan for a meeting to discuss the issue. Another hopeful sign is that some American and Soviet physicians have joined forces in a new organization called “lnternational Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War.” Medical people have stressed that they are not endorsing any particular treaty or program and not attempting to enunciate security policy. “But with regard to policy based on misconceptions concerning what doctors and hospitals can do in the event of nuclear war. ii is our responsibility to speak out.” said Dr. Howard H. Hiatt. dean of the Harvard School of Public Health. Hiatt had this to say about the medical consequences of nuclear war in his speech at the meeting last February: If a single 20-megaton bomb fell on Boston. shock waves and radiation would spread a circle of death four miles into suburbs. More than 90 percent of the three million residents would die or require immediate medical attention. But only 650 doctors would remain alive to treat them. Ifall the doctors worked 16 hours a day. seven days a week. it would take 26 days to see all the victims for about five minutes each, But all the hospitals would he flattened. too. Such sobering projections of the scorched horror that even a single bomb would bring beg for the best statesmanship the world can muster to prevent nuclear disaster. Government should welcome the physicians voice and insure that public health has its rightful inflatable surf the wave place in the diplomacy of defense. As the doctors noted, any disarmament move must be undertaken by all nuclear powers. not the United States alone. But with the right U. S. and global leadership and cooperation, a boost by the medical profession in the various countries could have a positive effect in the effort to safeguard humanity against the scourge of nuclear warfare.