From the Secretary General's Desk

During February 2005 I will leave the office of WMA Secretary General. After eight years of service to the WMA and the medical profession, I can only say that it was a tremendous privilege and an outstanding experience. May I use this opportunity to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support and care during my tenure. At the same time, I would like to express my sincere congratulations to my successor, Dr. Otmar Kloiber from Germany. Otmar has a wealth of experience and the WMA is fortunate to have such a champion of medical ethics and sound health care policy join our team.

The last four months have been a particularly impressive period in the existence of the WMA, and I would like to mention three reasons why:

WMA General Assembly in Tokyo, Japan
Medical leaders from around fifty countries of the world gathered, during October 2004, in the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo for our annual Assembly. Most fittingly, it was the Emperor and Empress of Japan themselves who wished to welcome the leaders to this historic occasion. Having started the meeting in such an auspicious way, the rest of the meeting followed suit with high-quality discussions and content. The Japan Medical Association excelled in developing a world-class scientific session on the relationship between advanced medical technology and medicine. Dr. Yank Coble was inaugurated as the new WMA President and had the opportunity to officially launch the "Caring Physicians of the World" project (www.caringphysicians.info). This is the most ambitious Presidential project to date, with the development of a book on examples of physicians from around the world who vividly display the traditional values of medicine - science, ethics and care. In addition, he will be visiting most of the WMA Member Associations during regional meetings planned for 2005.

World Ocean Forum in New York, USA
The WMA identified the important link between water and health as one of the priority areas for the organization some 3 years ago. It was decided to develop a more comprehensive policy on this subject, which was completed when the WMA General Assembly in Tokyo adopted the WMA Statement on Water and Health (www.wma.net - see "Policy"). In addition, a two-day symposium was planned with the World Ocean Observatory to further investigate and debate some of the more pressing water and ocean issues such as sanitation, ocean preservation, the biomedical potential of the oceans and access to water. Several high-level leaders attended the event, including the Executive Director of the World Health Organization tasked with Environmental Health, Dr. Kerstin Leitner. It is tragic and prophetic that this event preceded the tsunami disaster. In the aftermath of the tragedy, all the water, and ocean-related issues discussed during the meeting came into play in the most dramatic fashion. Please read the full report on the symposium, including slides and speeches, at www.worldoceanforum.org.

Launch of the WMA Ethics Manual
It is incredible to think that despite the fact that medical ethics is more than 2000 years old, there is no one universally used training manual for the teaching of medical ethics. The WMA had adopted a Statement on the Inclusion of Medical Ethics and Human Rights in the Curriculum of Medical Schools Worldwide (www.wma.net - see "Policy") during 1999, and it was therefore quite fitting that the WMA develop a simple and concise ethics training manual for use by medical students and physicians. The WMA Director of Ethics, Dr. John Williams, did a splendid job in putting this manual together along with a committed team of advisors. At a launch event in January 2005, the first edition of the manual was released to the press and some partner organizations. The launch was a huge success, as we are confident the distribution and use of the manual will be. The manual can be downloaded from the WMA website at www.wma.net.

Looking at the huge strides the WMA has made over the last quarter, it bodes well for the future growth and expansion of the WMA and the profession. It gives me great joy to see this happen as I leave the WMA stage. Thank you and au revoir.