WMA Council Meeting In Montevideo, Uruguay
The 150th Council meeting of the World Medical Association was held
in Montevideo, Uruguay from April 16 to 19. The following decisions
were made:
Cloning and Human Dignity
A new WMA policy statement on cloning is to be considered at the
association's next meeting in Ottawa, Canada in October. It was
agreed that the WMA should seek to lead world medical opinion on
trying to develop a worldwide medical consensus on the ethical and
legal issues posed by cloning. A working group of national medical
associations, headed by the Israel medical association, will meet
at the American Medical Association's annual meeting in Chicago
in June. The group will consider the current state of scientific
development with a view to producing a policy document to educate
doctors and the public. This paper will include recommendations
on when and where legal bans may be necessary and when and where
legal regulation is appropriate. It will also include discussion
of the principal ethical issues arising out of the scientific developments.
The Right of the Child to Health Care
A proposed new Declaration was approved by Council and will now
be submitted to the WMA's 50th General Assembly in Ottawa in October
for adoption.
Declaration of Helsinki
It was agreed that instead of continuing work on the proposed
revision of the Declaration of Helsinki on human experimentation,
the original Declaration should be circulated to national medical
association members with a request for specific amendments. These
proposed amendments will be considered at the WMA's meeting in
Ottawa. It was agreed that experts should also be consulted.
Nuclear Weapons
A new Declaration pledging the WMA to work for the elimination
of nuclear weapons was approved by Council and will be considered
by the General Assembly for adoption.
The Medical Workforce
Concern was expressed about the imbalance between the supply and
demand for physicians in different parts of the world. While a
shortage of doctors in some areas created difficulties in providing
sufficient medical services for the population, other areas suffered
from the consequences of medical unemployment or underemployment.
The Council approved a new Resolution encouraging regional consideration
of workforce issues with a view to holding an international conference
at an appropriate time.
Improved Investment in Health care
A proposed Resolution about the need to secure adequate resources
for health care systems to meet the basic needs of their populations
was approved by Council and will now be submitted to the General
Assembly for adoption.
Telemedicine
Following a debate on the ethical and legal issues surrounding
the growth of telemedicine, it was decided to circulate to all
national medical association members a new paper for consideration.
Human Rights
The British Medical Association agreed to set up a database on
human rights activities undertaken by national medical associations
and other organisations. It also offered to develop a questionnaire
for circulation to member associations about their activities.
This will lead to a series of actions which members will undertake
to promote human rights in their own and other countries.
New Members
An application for membership from the Medical Association of
the Dominican Republic was approved by Council and will now be
submitted to the General Assembly for acceptance.
Applications have been received from the medical associations
of Zimbabwe, Bosnia and Bolivia and these are being considered.
Other issues discussed for further work were:
- rights of the unborn
- patenting of medical processes and procedures
- joint statement with pharmacists on the use of medicines
- working relations between physicians and pharmacists
- controlled prescription and delivery of heroin to addicts
- the use of intellectual material obtained in an unethical
manner
It has been decided that future meetings of the WMA Council
and committee meetings should be open to the press. Invitations
will be sent out later for the Annual General Assembly in Ottawa
which will be held from October 14 to 18.
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