Position Statement

Banning Antipersonnel Land Mines

This Position Statement was developed as an educational tool based on the opinion of the authors. It is not a product of a systematic review. Readers are encouraged to consider the information presented and reach their own conclusions.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) supports an international ban on the manufacture, stockpiling, use, sale, transfer or export of antipersonnel land mines.

Current estimates place the number of land mines in the ground at between 80 - 100 million, affecting at least 64 countries, primarily in the developing world.¹ Approximately 500 people a week, mostly civilians,² are victims of these "eternal sentries."

Land mines pose a particularly harsh burden on society. Mines inflict ravaging wounds, usually resulting in traumatic or surgical amputation. They often cause severe secondary infections. Damage is rarely confined to one leg; lesser but still severe damage is frequently caused to the other leg, the genitals, arms, chest, and face.³

Reports from Orthopaedics Overseas volunteers have indicated that the largest category of cases seen at a hospital in Afghanistan are land mine related: acute trauma, infections, and the application of casts, splints, and prosthetic limbs.⁴

Victims who survive land mine explosions require extensive medical and rehabilitative services, many orthopaedics related. Few available surgeons in the land mine-afflicted countries are trained in the repair and management of land mine injuries. Land mine amputees are often deemed valueless and burdensome within their societies. Many are abandoned and left destitute.

US military leaders list mines as the chief threat to 20,000 US troops serving as part of a NATO peacekeeping force in the Balkans.⁵

In light of these circumstances, the AAOS supports efforts to ban the manufacture, stockpiling, use, sale, transfer and export of antipersonnel land mines.

References:

1. United States Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crises, (Washington, DC, United States Department of State, 1994)
2. Ibid.
3. Stober E., Keller AS, Cobey. J. The Medical and Social Consequences of Land Mines in Cambodia. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 1994, Vol. 272, No 5; 331-336.
4. The Volunteer Connection. 1995, Vol. 9. No. 4: Health Volunteers Overseas.
5. Chicago Tribune, Dec. 19, 1995; 8; section 1.

© February 1996 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

This material may not be modified without the express written permission of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons^®.

Position Statement 1133

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