Immoral to spend so much on armaments

AS a retired paediatrician, I recognise the adverse effect of armed conflict on child health. One in nine children worldwide live in an area of armed conflict.

Less well understood is the negative impact of arms sales on child health.

As a major seller of weapons, we are responsible for the devastating impact on countries such as Yemen, which is facing a major humanitarian disaster. There are also major issues faced by children in the UK, due to the huge expenditure on the military. Our major political parties wish to spend up to £200 billion on new nuclear weapons.

This is despite the United Nations passing a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, that comes into force on January 22. Nuclear weapons will then be classified as illegal and on a par with biological and chemical weapons. The use of nuclear weapons would result in indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians (including children). It would also have a devastating impact on food production globally and the climate emergency.

To spend so much money on weapons when so many children in the UK are hungry or live in poverty is immoral.

Readers who are interested can read the open access article on Arms sales and child health in the journal BMJ Paediatrics Open (freely available on the internet) http://dx. doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2020000809 where we highlight the corruption within the arms trade. Our government should prioritise people not arms manufacturers. Imti Choonara, Emeritus Professor in Child Health, University of

Nottingham