The creation of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War coincided with the setting up of Sir John Stallworthy's Board of Science and Education Working Party of the British Medical Association on The Medical Effects of Nuclear War. The subsequent report was accepted and endorsed by the BMA's Representative Body, which resolved that the Association should take no political stance on the ‘nuclear issue’ and went on to establish its position on civil defence.The Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons has lobbied for the BMA to recognize the implications of the first and two later reports, which have been complemented by equivalent documents from the World Health Organization and other professional bodies.The BMA's ‘no political stance’ did not prevent the 1984 Annual Representative Meeting calling for a massive reallocation of resources from military to health and welfare budgets world wide. Fruitless consultation with the government has necessitated a Board of Science discussion document on ‘triage’ following nuclear attack. The author suggests a fourth report on the ‘value’ of civil defence, and urges the Association to encourage ‘citizen diplomacy’ and to endorse the World Health Organization's call to physicians and other health workers to work towards the preservation and promotion of peace.