WMA Resolution in support of Medical Personnel and Citizens of Myanmar

Adopted by the 217^th WMA Council Session, Seoul (online), April 2021
and by the 72^nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021,
reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 233rd WMA Council, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, October 2026

PREAMBLE

The World Medical Association is increasingly alarmed by the Myanmar military and security forces’ ongoing campaign of harassment, arbitrary arrests and detentions targeting health personnel, facilities, protesters and civil society at large. The WMA and its members are particularly disturbed by reports of health personnel being terrorised, arrested, kidnapped and killed for treating protesters.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a devastating earthquake in March 2025 have further weakened the health system. Over the last few years, the Myanmar military and security forces have intensified their persecution of health personnel, using these events as a pretext to lure out healthcare workers and resulting in attacks and arrests. This has led to a healthcare system on the verge of collapse, with a severe shortage of staff and critically damaged infrastructure.

These practices are in clear contravention of international humanitarian law (IHL), the international standards set out in the WMA Declaration on the Protection and Integrity of Medical Personnel in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence as well as the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Thus, the WMA and its members demand that the Myanmar military and security forces, take immediate action to:

1. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of detained protesters and health personnel; ensure humane conditions of detention, including immediate access to independent medical care and an evaluation in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol; and provide regular access to legal counsel and family members;
2. Release protesters and health personnel immediately and unconditionally, and drop all charges against them, as their arbitrary detention is solely intended to prevent freedom of expression and their human rights activities.
3. Put an urgent end to attacks against health personnel and facilities and ensure the unimpeded provision of healthcare to all in accordance with international humanitarian law (IHL).
4. Ensure that health personnel can practise their profession and travel freely without arbitrary revocation of licences or passports, or inclusion on blacklists.
5. Stop all acts of harassment, intimidation, and killing against protesters, human rights defenders and journalists and comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
6. Ensure, in all circumstances, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
7. Cooperate with international fact-finding commissions and other relevant accountability mechanisms to investigate and prosecute those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and ensure an end to impunity.