The WMA Ethics Unit was created in 2003 to coordinate and expand the WMA's ethics activities.
Since its foundation in 1947, the WMA's main goal has been to establish and promote the highest possible standards of ethical behaviour and care by physicians. In pursuit of this goal it has adopted policy statements on a large number of ethical issues related to medical professionalism, patient care, research on human subjects and public policies. The Ethics Unit will help the WMA Council and standing committees review and update current policies and develop new ones on emerging ethical issues. It will also serve as a clearinghouse of ethics information resources for national medical associations, their physician members and other interested parties and will develop new resources as appropriate. The Ethics Unit will coordinate its activities with other international organizations involved in medical ethics and health and human rights.

The ethics pages of the WMA web site will be the principal vehicle of information exchange. Suggestions for improving the pages are strongly encouraged.