CMA adds voice to call for land-mine ban CMAJ 1997;157:864 © Canadian Medical Association The CMA has joined the chorus calling for a ban on the use of antipersonnel land mines. The often-undetectable mines, which the Economist recently described as "cheap little horrors," kill or maim about 25 000 people a year. They continue taking their toll long after wars end because they are seldom defused. In a unanimous vote cast during the August annual meeting, the CMA lauded Canadian attempts to achieve a signed treaty banning the mines by this December. That treaty proposal received its biggest boost while the CMA annual meeting was under way, when the US announced it would support the Canadian plan. Three months ago it had dismissed the "Ottawa process" as unrealistic, but support had grown in the US, particularly among war veterans. A report released in July indicated that during the Korean war American troops were more likely to be killed by their own mines than communist ones. Although the Ottawa process is unlikely to achieve a total ban because countries such as India and China will refuse to sign it, 106 countries had announced their support by August. "The strength of the Ottawa approach lies in stigmatizing antipersonnel mines as abominable, not to be used ever, on any account, by anybody, no exceptions," the Economist observed. "The great news is that this target no longer looks as fantastical as it once did." Send a letter to the editor responding to this article Envoyez une lettre à la rédaction au sujet de cet article | CMAJ October 1, 1997 (vol 157, no 7) / JAMC le 1er octobre 1997 (vol 157, no 7) |