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Biological and Chemical Warfare


Auteur :
Éditeur : University of Ghent Date & Lieu : 1984, Ghent
Préface : Pages : 454
Traduction : ISBN :
Langue : AnglaisFormat : 160x240 mm
Code FIKP : Liv. Eng. Hey. Fir. 2498Thème : Général

Présentation
Table des Matières Introduction Identité PDF
Biological and Chemical Warfare


Biological and Chemical Warfare

A. Heyndrickx

University of Ghent


It is with my warmest congratulations to the State University of Ghent that I extend my appreciation to organize the First World Congress «New Compounds in Biological and Chemical Warfare: Toxicological Evaluation», which takes place these coming days.

Belgium has suffered a lot in the First World War of Chemical attacks on its soldiers and thousands died in the fight for their freedom with the Allied Forces.

This Conference on high scientific level and humanitarian grounds, away from all international political involvement is a light for humanity in its search to live free from any war.

The program that is submitted for the detection of those compounds, the diagnosis and the treatment of the patients is of such a great importance for humanity and for our future.

Belgium, on humanitarian grounds has always supported, in the Western World and internationally, all efforts ...



EDITORIAL


by A. Heyndrickx
Chairman of the Congress
Department of Toxicology, State University of Ghent
Hospitaalstraat 13, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

His Excellency, Mr. W. De Clercq, Vice-Prime Minister
and Minister of Finance and Foreign Trade,
His Excellency Prince Norodom Ranariddh of Cambodia,
The Honourable Rector of the State University of Ghent,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,

On April 27th 1915 at 4 o'clock in the afternoon a green gas cloud was coming towards the Belgian defensive troups stationed near leper (Ypres) ; the first gas attack, made by the German Army with chlorine had taken place. Through that attack, five thousand Belgian troups and Allied Forces died.
The Belgian Army and the Allied Forces did not think about Gas Warfare. We had no gas masks, and no protective clothing.

Six thousand metal cylinders filled with chlorine were used in this battle.
In December 1915 the German forces first attacked with Phosgene and later on July 12th 1917 they first used mustard gas. Mustard gas got its name from the City of leper (Ypres) where the gas was first used, since then it was called also Yperite.

The first gas mask that was made by the British was introduced on May 1st and was a very simple system, called the Black Veil Respirator.
Since then also a kind of mask was developed for the horses which were of such great use in this warfare.
It was Prof. Dr. Fritz Haber, Head of the Berlin Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, who invented the technique.

Later on, after the War, he received the Nobel Price, for other inventions.
The war gas history started by the British in 1894 at Sebastopol in the Crimean War, where noxious sulfur fumes were used, which were quite ineffective. In the Boer War of 1899-1902 the artillery was using shells, filled with picric acid which had a vomiting reaction on the soldiers.
The War of 1914-1918 was numbering about 100,000 dead and over 1,200,000 of casualties, including civilians, due to chemical warfare.

I still remember, in the pharmacy of my father before World War II, that veterans of the First World War were coming in every week to receive from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health, the bromoform syrup for their daily use.
In 1930 Mussolini was using mustard gas in Ethiopia. And in 1965 Egypt was using also war gases, Yperite, in Yemen/Since 1975-1976 we have reports that chemical and microbiological warfare is used in Laos, later in Cambodia and Afghanistan. At this moment Irak is using it in Iran.

It means that today's First World Congress « New Compounds in Biological and Chemical Warfare : Toxicological Evaluation », is up to date.
I want to thank especially the Belgian Government and also His Excellency the Vice-Prime Minister present here, for the great help that I had in my research, and the support to organize this First World Congress.

At no time there was any influence or pressure from the Belgian Government or any Minister so that I could organize completely and independently this meeting.
During my research and also sampling in foreign countries, at no time I was influenced so that I could work completely independently. I want to thank also the Universities of Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, Essen, Lausanne and Ghent for their close collaboration and co-operation the last weeks, treating the patients, analysing the samples which were sent over every day to the University, and their close co-operation and reporting the results. I want to thank also especially Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and Swissair for the close collaboration sending over the samples and taking back the reports.

I also want to thank the Rector of the State University of Ghent, Prof. A. Cottenie for the possibilities given to my Department of Toxicology to do the analysis, and fundamental research which was needed in this field.
Unfortunately all our physicians, pharmacists and nurses in Western Flanders who had to treat our soldiers and civilians attacked by those terrible weapons passed away. We only have a few veterans left who still remember those hard days. One of them told me that by one of these attacks the soldier who was blowing the horn and announcing the gases, died, due to the fact that he had to breath many times, warning the others that they had to protect themselves. In those attacks, our soldiers only had a handkerchief that they had to wet with their own urine, bring on their mouth and nose so that they would have some protection.

It means that today, what the treatment is concerned, we do not know much, it is only by these results at those University Clinics, where all those physicians and nurses were doing such an outstanding job, that we gain some experience using modern pharmaceuticals and also new techniques ; we can see how we can cure and at the same time relieve.

The techniques of detection have been changing since 1914-1918, by using modern possibilities of analytical toxicological investigation.

It is surprising to find that many of those war gases do not hydrolyze or do not metabolize so fast, as we originally thought. Of course today our methods are much more reliable and sensitive than they were 69 years ago.
This Congress has one main purpose in humanitarian sight: see how we can help people who suffer. This conference has no political goal, everybody can express his own ideas, the way he was conducting his investigations, at the same time everyone can report what he has heard and seen.

In this way, Belgium, which was suffering so much during the First World War, has the honour to organize this First World Congress.
We hope, bringing these results known internationally, Governments and Countries involved will draw the necessary conclusions, and bring them towards the United Nations, as it has already been done by some of them.
That all those weapons will be banned and that at the same time the basic compounds, the bulk materials, that one needs to manufacture them, will be under direct international control.

All other solutions will be ineffective.
We hope that industrialized countries will limit the transfer of technology, and limit technical experts in helping those countries to build this new manufacturing military industry.
In this way we will help to have more peace in some parts of the World and try to conserve it in those parts where we still have peace.

I want to thank the National Science Foundation of Belgium and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the State University of Ghent for the help given to organize this Conference.
I extend a warm welcome to the 324 scientists and delegates from the 31 countries : Afghanistan, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, Western Germany, Yugoslavia.

Fifty-two communications will be discussed.
May I ask now His Excellency the Vice-Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. W. De Clercq to open this First World Congress.



Allocution by His Excellency Mr. W. De Clercq

Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Foreign Trade

His Excellency, Prince Ranariddh Norodom,
Excellencies Ambassadors.
Authorities,

It is with my warmest congratulations to the State University of Ghent that I extend my appreciation to organize the First World Congress «New Compounds in Biological and Chemical Warfare: Toxicological Evaluation», which takes place these coming days.
Belgium has suffered a lot in the First World War of Chemical attacks on its soldiers and thousands died in the fight for their freedom with the Allied Forces.

This Conference on high scientific level and humanitarian grounds, away from all international political involvement is a light for humanity in its search to live free from any war.
The program that is submitted for the detection of those compounds, the diagnosis and the treatment of the patients is of such a great importance for humanity and for our future.

Belgium, on humanitarian grounds has always supported, in the Western World and internationally, all efforts to attain those goals.
By comparing the scientific results of all great specialists of the world here united today, it is my sincere hope that more and more the truth will be known to the world and that all of us will do our best to reach peace for all men.

I hope that in those three days, the international exchange between scientists will improve and that the press of all Nations here united, will make it also known to the World.
Let us hope that in this way you and Belgium will make a step forward to reach our final destination in human rights and peace.

.....

 




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