WMA Statement on Nuclear Weapons

Adopted by the 50^th World Medical Assembly, Ottawa, Canada, October 1998
Revised by the 59^th WMA General Assembly, Seoul, Korea, October 2008,
by the 66^th WMA General Assembly, Moscow, Russia, October 2015,
by the 69^th WMA General Assembly, Reykjavik, Iceland, October 2018,
and by the 76th WMA General Assembly, Porto, Portugal, October 2025

Preamble

The WMA Declarations of Geneva, Helsinki and Tokyo make clear the duties and responsibilities of the medical profession to preserve and safeguard the health of the patient and to dedicate itself to the service of humanity. Therefore, and in light of the persistent availability of nuclear weapons, the catastrophic medical and environmental consequences of nuclear weapon use, and the impossibility of a meaningful health and humanitarian response, the WMA considers that it has a duty to work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. To achieve a world free of nuclear weapons is a necessity.

Recommendations

Therefore, the WMA:

1. Condemns the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer and deployment of nuclear weapons, as well as the threat or use of nuclear weapons for any reason and at any time.
2. Requests all governments to refrain from the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, deployment, threat and use of nuclear weapons and to work in good faith towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.
3. Advises all governments that even a limited nuclear war would bring about immense human suffering and health damage, and a substantial death toll, together with catastrophic effects on the earth’s climate and ecosystem, which could cause a “nuclear winter” effect, subsequently decreasing the worlds food supply and putting a significant portion of the world’s population at risk of famine.
4. Is deeply concerned by plans to retain indefinitely and modernize nuclear arsenals, including increasing use of artificial intelligence in the military; by the absence of progress in nuclear disarmament by nuclear-armed states; and by the growing dangers of nuclear war, whether by intent, including cyberattack, inadvertence or accident.
5. Welcomes the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and joins with others in the international community, and nearly 100 UN member states, in calling, as a mission of physicians, on all states to promptly sign, ratify or accede to, and faithfully implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
6. Urges the World Health Assembly to empower the World Health Organization to review and renew its 1987 report “Effects of Nuclear War on Health and Health Services,” and its 1993 report “Health and Environmental Effects of Nuclear Weapons” and to publicize its findings widely, continuing to update this report regularly and on an ongoing basis and,
7. Requests that all Medical Associations at all levels join the WMA in supporting this Statement, use available educational resources to educate the general public and urge their respective governments to work urgently to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons, including by joining and implementing the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.