Policy Type: Resolution

Adopted by the 75th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, October 2024

 

PREAMBLE

Plastic poses an ongoing challenge to human and planetary health, which will inevitably worsen unless coordinated global action is taken. Global production of plastics has grown to 400 million metric tons in 2022 and is projected to quadruple by 2050.  In 2019, global plastics production released 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases and 22 million tons of plastic solids into the environment.

Plastics are used in all aspects of healthcare, and there has been a dramatic shift towards single-use items in recent decades.

Referring to the WMA Statement on Environmental Degradation and Sound Management of Chemicals, which also deals with plastic waste leading to environmental degradation and potentially harmful effects on health, it is important to consider the potential health impacts at every stage of the plastic life cycle.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 The World Medical Association urges countries, and especially those present at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) , to commit to a just Plastic Treaty to end plastic pollution, address the impacts of plastics on human and planetary health and consider the role of plastic products in the health sector.

 

Adopted by the 71st WMA General Assembly (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020
and reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 227th WMA Council, Helsinki, Finland, October 2024

 

The WMA and its members are deeply concerned about the continuing coercion of the Turkish Medical Association by the Turkish authorities.

The Turkish Medical Association is a dedicated member of the WMA, recognised for its commitment to serve public health interests and to protect patients and physicians with respect for the ethical values of the profession.

Recalling its Resolution on the Independence of National Medical Associations, the WMA opposes such governmental interference with the independent functioning of a medical association and urges the government of Turkey and the members of the parliament to:

  1. Protect the establishment of the Turkish Medical Association as a national independent association and main representative of all physicians in the country, and prevent any legal regulation that will harm its professional autonomy;
  2. Respect the universal professional values of medicine, which were built upon thousands of years of experience and aim to prioritise patient and public health;
  3. Comply fully with international human rights instruments that Turkey is a State Party to.

 

 

Adopted by the 70th WMA General Assembly, Tbilisi, Georgia, October 2019 and
reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 227th WMA Council, Helsinki, Finland, October 2024

  

  1. The World Medical Association remains concerned about the abrupt discontinuation of WHO 2011 guidance “Ensuring balance in national policies on controlled substances: Guidance for availability and accessibility of controlled medicines”, as well as its 2012 “WHO guidelines on the pharmacological treatment of persisting pain in children with medical illnesses.”
  2. This revocation, which took place in June 2019 without consulting the medical community, will deprives many physicians of support and regulation in countries without related national legislation, thus endangering their medically justified use of such substances. Ultimately, suffering patients will not have access to proper medication.
  3. The WMA notes that the withdrawal was decided unilaterally, without providing any supporting evidence and without including any replacement or substitution. Moreover, the discontinued guidelines were fully removed from the WHO online publications portal, thus impeding the ability of physicians to justify and validate retrospectively the use of controlled substances, exposing them potentially to criminal prosecution.
  4. The WMA demands the adherence to the principle of evidence-based development of treatment guidelines. This should apply to the definition, amendment and discontinuation of such guidance, in addition to the application of a precautionary principle. Evidence supporting the revocation of the opioid-guidelines must be published and made available for scientific scrutiny.
  5. The WMA demands that the announced revision process by WHO for the two discontinued guidelines be promptly completed in an open and transparent process, including a reliable mechanism to ensure the disqualification of experts with conflicts of interest.

 

Adopted by the 226th WMA Council session, Seoul, Korea, April 2024
and adopted by the 75th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, October 2024

 

PREAMBLE

In response to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza, the WMA is gravely concerned by the deepening healthcare and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the growing starvation and the lack of medical care and deeply concerned about the continued imprisonment and abuse of hostages.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

The WMA Council and its constituent members call for:

  1. A bilateral, negotiated and sustainable ceasefire in order to protect all civilian life, secure the release and safe passage of all hostages and to allow the transfer of humanitarian aid for all those in need.
  2. The immediate and safe release of all hostages.
  3. Pending their release, humanitarian aid and healthcare attention to be provided to the hostages.
  4. All parties to abide by international humanitarian law and the principle of medical neutrality to safeguard the rights and protection of healthcare facilities, healthcare personnel and patients from further threat, interference and attack.
  5. Unimpeded and accelerated humanitarian access throughout all of Gaza, including the entry of humanitarian aid and safe passage of medical personnel. This also includes the evacuation of urgent medical cases to reduce secondary morbidity and mortality, public health risks, and alleviate pressure on hospitals inside Gaza.
  6. The re-establishment of access to healthcare and the creation of a safe working environment for healthcare personnel to work in through the restoration of medical capacity and essential services.
  7. Verified investigations into alleged gross violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law including attacks on healthcare staff and facilities and the misuse of those facilities for military purposes.
  8. The upholding by physicians of the principles in the WMA Declaration of Geneva and other documents that serve as guidance for medical personnel during times of conflict.

 

 

Adopted by the 223rd WMA Council Session, Nairobi, Kenya, April 2023
Revised and adopted by the 74th WMA General Assembly, Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023
Revised as Council Resolution by the 226th WMA Council Session, Seoul, Korea, April 2024 and
adopted by the 75th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, October 2024

 

PREAMBLE

The WMA is gravely concerned about the “Anti-Homosexuality law” that was passed in the Ugandan parliament on March 21, 2023, and signed into law by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in May 2023. The WMA originally condemned the bill in a press release issued on March 24, 2023.

While the Uganda Constitutional Court did strike down sections of the law that restricted healthcare access for LGBT people, criminalised renting premises to LGBT people, and an obligation to report alleged acts of homosexuality, on April 3, 2024, the court upheld the abusive and radical provisions of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, including sections which criminalise certain consensual same-sex acts and makes them punishable by death or life imprisonment. A provision on the “promotion” of homosexuality is also of grave concern, exposing anyone who “knowingly promotes homosexuality” to as much as twenty years in prison.

Similarly, an “Anti-Gay” bill was passed by the parliament of Ghana on February 28, 2024. The bill has its origins in British colonial law which criminalizes “unnatural sex”, and broadens the scope of criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and pansexual people, including their allies.

The so-called “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values” bill also allows for criminalizing medical professionals’ work. The bill prohibits the provision of or participation in the provision of surgical procedures for sex or gender reassignment, as punishable by fines or imprisonment. Distribution and other broadcast of any information that promote activities that are prohibited under bill, including teaching children any gender or sex beyond male and female, could result in 10 years imprisonment. The bill would also require anyone with knowledge of prohibited activities to report these activities to the police or other authorities.

In July 2024, the Ghana Supreme Court upheld the bill. Ugandan President Nana Akufo-Addo has not yet signed the bill into law.

Similar troubling legislation and laws have arisen in countries including but not limited to Georgia, the United States, Bulgaria and Iraq.

These kinds of laws and bills challenge the role of physicians to objectively provide information to patients and, where appropriate, those close to them. Physicians could face disciplinary action or retribution for pointing out in the context of treatment that homosexuality is a natural variation of human sexuality. This can impact the professional practice of a physician, as can be seen in other countries that have implemented similar legislation. It can also impact the health of individuals and the population as a whole if patients of the LGBTQ+ community are fearful of accessing healthcare or of being forthcoming with information when they require medical care.

As stated in its Statement on Natural Variations of Human Sexuality and supported in its Statement on Transgender People, the WMA condemns all forms of stigmatisation, criminalization of and discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation.

The WMA reasserts that being lesbian, gay, or bisexual are natural variations within the range of human sexuality and that discrimination, both interpersonally and at the institutional level, anti-homosexual or anti-bisexual legislation and human rights violations, stigmatisation, criminalization of same-sex partnerships, peer rejection and bullying continue to have a serious impact upon the psychological and physical health of lesbian, gay or bisexual people.

Further, the WMA emphasises that everyone has the right to determine one’s own gender, recognises the diversity of possibilities in this respect and calls for appropriate legal measures to protect the equal civil rights of transgender people.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

Therefore, the WMA, reaffirming its statements on Natural Variations of Human Sexuality and Transgender People, calls on:

  • Ugandan authorities to immediately repeal the Anti-Homosexuality law in its entirety;
  • Ghanaian authorities to immediately veto or rescind the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values bill; and
  • WMA Constituent members to condemn the Ugandan law and Ghanaian bill, and advocate against any similar legislation that is proposed or enacted.

Adopted by the 173rd WMA Council Session, Divonne-les-Bains, France, May 2006
and reaffirmed by the 203rd WMA Council Session, Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 2016
and revised by the 226th WMA Council Session, Seoul, Korea, April 2024
and adopted by the 75th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, October 2024

 

Whereas the WMA Statement on Human Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation stresses the importance of free and informed choice in organ donation and

Whereas the statement explicitly states that prisoners and other individuals in custody are not in a position to give consent freely, and therefore, their organs must not be used for transplantation and

Whereas, prior to 2014, there were reports of Chinese prisoners being executed and their organs procured for donation; and

Whereas the WMA reiterates its position that organ donation be achieved through the free and informed consent of the potential donor; and

Whereas the WMA General Assembly in Copenhagen in 2007 was informed that the Chinese Medical Association (ChMA) stated in a letter by Dr. Wu Mingjang, (then) Vice President and Secretary General of the ChMA that

  1. the Chinese Medical Association agrees to the WMA Statement on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation, in which it states that organs of prisoners and other individuals in custody must not be used for transplantation, except for members of their immediate family. The Chinese Medical Association will, through its influence, further promote the strengthening of management of human organ transplantation and prevent possible violations made by the Chinese Government.”[1]

Whereas the Chinese Medical Association (ChMA) gave a statement regarding the proposed WMA Declaration on Organ Donation for Transplantation from Executed Prisoners at the 223rd Council meeting in Nairobi 2023, stating:

  1. “The Chinese Medical Association (ChMA) fully supports China’s complete prohibition on the use of organs from death penalty prisoners for transplantation, implemented on January 1st, 2015. This policy has significantly contributed to the successful development of voluntary deceased organ donation in China, propelling the nation to rank second globally in annual deceased organ donation and benefiting numerous Chinese patients.
  2. ChMA firmly supports and adheres China’s comprehensive legal and regulatory system, as well as the technical capacity developed to facilitate the legal enforcement, ensuring the continued prohibition of using organs from executed prisoners and the ongoing success of the national organ donation program.
  3. ChMA encourages all her members (to) actively participates (in) China’s efforts to establish a self-sufficient organ donation system in line with WHO guiding principle, condemns the practice of using organs from executed prisoners for transplantation. ChMA will continue, and also call upon all national medical associations, particularly those with legislation permitting the practice of the use of organs from executed prisoners, to educate physicians on ethical values and conduct in order to prevent such a practice.”

Whereas the WMA reiterates paragraphs 17,18 and 19 of the undisputed WMA Statement on Organ and Tissue Donation, last revised at the WMA 68th. General Assembly in Chicago, United States, October 2017, which read:

  1. 17. Prisoners and other people who are effectively detained in institutions should be eligible to donate after death where checks have been made to ensure that donation is in line with the individual’s prior, un-coerced wishes and, where the individual is incapable of giving consent, authorisation has been provided by a family member or other authorized decision-maker. Such authorisation may not override advance withholding or refusal of consent.
  2. 18. Their death is from natural causes and this is verifiable.
  3. 19. In jurisdictions where the death penalty is practised, executed prisoners must not be considered as organ and/or tissue donors. While there may be individual cases where prisoners are acting voluntarily and free from pressure, it is impossible to put in place adequate safeguards to protect against coercion in all cases.

Whereas there have been reports of purported inappropriate organ procurement from prisoners within several nations and the WMA should remain firmly on record to condemn inappropriate organ procurement from prisoners and other people who are effectively detained in institutions in all nations.

The WMA will amend the title of the WMA Council Resolution on Organ Donation in China (2006) to the WMA Council Resolution on Organ Donation in Prisoners.

Therefore, the Workgroup on Organ Procurement (November 2023) proposes to amend the WMA Council Resolution on Organ Donation in China (2006), to read as follows:

The WMA reiterates its position that organ donation be achieved through the free and informed consent of the potential donor.

The WMA calls on its Constituent member associations to condemn any practice of using prisoners and other people who are effectively detained in institutions as organ donors in any manner that is not consistent with the WMA Statement on Organ and Tissue Donation and ensure that physicians are not involved in the removal or transplantation of organs from executed prisoners, and

the WMA demands all national governments to immediately cease the practice of using prisoners and other people who are effectively detained in institutions as organ donors in any manner that is not consistent with the WMA Statement on Organ and Tissue Donation.

[1] WMA News, Chinese Medical Association reaches agreement with WMA against transplantation of prisoner’s organs. Copenhagen, 2007 replace by original message.

Adopted by the 74th WMA General Assembly, Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

 

Preamble

In October 2020, the WMA passed a Resolution which formally condemned the treatment of the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region of China. The resolution also repeated the July 2019 call of the UN Human Rights High Commissioner for independent international observers to be allowed into the region.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report on 31 august 2022 on the “Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China”. The report’s assessments include findings that serious human rights violation have been committed in XUAR and that patterns of restrictions have a discriminatory component. The OHCHR furthermore inter alia finds that allegations of forced medical treatments and adverse conditions of detention are credible.

“The purpose of the WMA is to serve humanity by endeavouring to achieve the highest international standards in Medical Education, Medical Science, Medical Art and Medical Ethics, and Health Care for all people in the world”. Uyghur birth rates have been cut through involuntary IUDs, abortions and sterilisations [1]. All of these acts require the involvement of medical professionals.

The People´s Republic of China is continuing its campaign in a manner that is dependent upon continued and extensive medical involvement, engaging in the most egregious violations of human rights, which risk bringing the entire medical profession into disrepute. It is therefore morally incumbent on the WMA and its members to take a strong stand against such reprehensible actions.

In October 2020, the WMA recognised and condemned the treatment of the Uyghurs in China. As there is now incontrovertible evidence surrounding their abuse, it is incumbent on the Chinese Medical Association to join other constituent bodies of the WMA by acknowledging and condemning this abuse.

 

Recommendation

In light of the mounting body of evidence, including the report of 31 August 2022 from the OCHCR, of medical involvement in severe human rights violations against the Uyghur people and other minorities in China, the WMA asks the Chinese Medical Association to acknowledge the concerns set out in the report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and comply with the 2020 WMA Resolution on human rights violations against Uyghur People in China.

 

[1] https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-weekend-reads-china-health-269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c

Adopted by the 74th WMA General Assembly, Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

PREAMBLE

There are many countries in the world where torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment takes place. However, in some countries, physicians are unable to speak out against human rights violations, even if they witness them, due to the severe repression in the country. It is the WMA’s and the broader medical community’s responsibility to help draw attention to the fundamental changes that are urgently needed in order to guarantee physicians safe and sustainable working conditions, and to allow them to ethically practice their profession. One way of showing this recognition is to refrain from holding international events in such countries.

 

RECOMMENDATION

The WMA calls the medical community worldwide to carefully evaluate the suitability of holding international medical events in countries where physicians are persecuted and, where appropriate, to take a decision on whether to refrain from such events or to provide clear and explicit support for these physicians at such events.

 

Adopted by the 74th WMA General Assembly, Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

PREAMBLE

 The WMA is deeply concerned at the increasing rate of violence against health professionals and facilities in Nepal. The Nepal Medical Association, a WMA member, documented at least seven incidents of misbehaviors and physical assault on medical personnel in the last 15 days, as well as vandalism in health institutions.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Recalling its policies on Workplace Violence in the Health Sector and on the Protection and Integrity of Medical Personnel in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence, the WMA and its members condemn in the strongest terms any form of violence against health personnel and facilities, and express its solidarity with its Nepalese colleagues.

2. The WMA and its members urge the Nepalese authorities to commit to preventing and ending violence against health personnel through the implementation of robust and coordinated policies, in particular:

  • immediate security measures to guarantee a safe environment for health personnel and facilities in the country;
  • an appropriate funding dedicated to the protection of health personnel and facilities;
  • adequate accountability mechanism, with rapid responses from the authorities against perpetrators of attacks on health personnel.

 

Adopted by the 223rd WMA Council, Nairobi, Kenya, April 2023
Revised and adopted by the 74th WMA General Assembly, Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

 

PREAMBLE

Violent fighting has broken out since April 2023 in Khartoum and in several cities of Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an independent paramilitary force.

Amnesty International reports extensive war crimes with mass civilian victims in both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks by the conflicting parties as well as sexual violence against women and girls. Rampant looting has affected hospitals, medical facilities, and humanitarian warehouses across various regions. This widespread looting has exacerbated an already dire situation by depriving communities of essential medical and humanitarian resources. Even if supplies manage to enter Sudan, the challenge lies in safely delivering them to conflict-affected regions, where they are critically required [1].

The WMA and its constituent members join the United Nations Security Council in condemning in the strongest terms all attacks on the civilian population, United Nations and associated personnel and humanitarian actors, as well as civilian objects, medical personnel and facilities, and the looting of humanitarian supplies [2].

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. The WMA supports the call by the UN Security Council to conflicting parties to immediately cease hostilities, facilitate humanitarian access and establish a permanent ceasefire arrangement and to resume the process towards reaching a lasting, inclusive and democratic political settlement in Sudan.
  2. The WMA calls upon all parties in conflicts to:
    • Respect the ethical principles of health care, including medical neutrality, to guarantee the safety of patients and health personnel, and take immediate steps to ensure that they are not targeted or affected by the fighting, including the provision of safe passage of health care personnel and patients where evacuation is required;
    • Ensure that hospitals and healthcare facilities have adequate supplies and staffing to provide care to those in need and facilitate humanitarian aid;
    • End immediately gender-based violence, including sexual violence as a tactic of war to terrorize people.
  1. The WMA urges the Sudanese authorities to ensure impartial and independent investigations into all alleged gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law; and for perpetrators to be held accountable.

[1] Sudan: “Death came to our home”: War crimes and civilian suffering in Sudan – Amnesty International

[2] Security Council Press Statement on Sudan | UN Press, 02.06.2023

Adopted by the 73rd WMA General Assembly, Berlin, Germany, October 2022

 

PREAMBLE

SARS-COV-2 Pandemic caused more than 400 million cases and nearly 6 million deaths. It is quite comforting that vaccines that ensure protection from the disease have been produced, and data relating to the course of the pandemic in countries with high vaccination coverage is promising. 62.3% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Only 11.4% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. Deep inequalities in access to vaccines are still observed globally and failure to achieve collective immunity leads to the -further spread of new, more contagious and immunity-evading variants of the disease through mutation. Worldwide application of vaccines is of critical importance in terminating the Covid-19 pandemic. Every minute of delay in vaccinations means further spread of the disease at global scale and more lives lost. It is not sufficient to immunize all citizens in any given country; immunization has to reach a sufficient level in the world as a whole to effectively combat and control the pandemic.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

The WMA urges all parties to:

1.Remove barriers to promote equity of access to COVID-19 vaccines that are globally proven to be safe and effective;

2. Work with governmental and appropriate regulatory bodies to encourage prioritization of equity when providing COVID-19 pandemic-related resources such as diagnostics, free medications, therapeutics, vaccines, raw materials for vaccine production, personal protective equipment, and/or financial support, and guarantee universal accessibility and free distribution;

3. Establish vaccination strategies that consider the specific peculiarities, challenges and vulnerabilities of each region, prioritising the most vulnerable people, including health professionals;

4. Insist on the importance of vaccination and take action to achieve maximum coverage and protect the population in need;

In this context,

5. Confront vaccine hesitancy by providing evidence-based guidance on the safety and necessity of vaccines;

6. Share of knowledge required for vaccine production to the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool created by WHO to ensure that vaccines are produced at as many centres as possible and sharing of this knowledge;

7. Allocate public funds to improve the capacity of vaccine production centres and increase the channels of safe distribution so as to ensure fair access, to provide equitable and efficient vaccine supply and distribution;

8. Design national vaccine programmes that take into account a global analysis rather than only national considerations;

9. Promote sustainable solutions to patent issues. This may include the temporary lifting of patents on COVID-19 vaccines under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and similar agreements to promote equity of access in global emergency situations, while ensuring fair compensation for the intellectual property of the patent holders if asked, global investment in manufacturing sites, training of personnel, quality control, and the transfer of knowledge, technology and manufacturing expertise;

10. Support WHO efforts and initiatives to increase production and distribution of therapeutics and vaccines necessary to combat COVID-19 and future pandemics in order to provide vaccine doses to low and middle-income countries with limited access, including:

  • technological transfers relevant for vaccine production;
  • other support, financial and otherwise, necessary to scale up global vaccine manufacturing; and
  • measures that ensure the safety and efficacy of products manufactured by such means.

11. Call on governments and the United Nations to take all necessary measures to facilitate equitable access to vaccines throughout the world by supporting and promoting the sharing of all vaccine-related processes for combating pandemics (R&D, patenting, production, licensing, procurement and application).

 

 

Adopted by the 222nd WMA Council Session, Berlin, Germany, October 2022
and revised and adopted by the 74th WMA General Assembly, Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

 

PREAMBLE

The WMA is deeply concerned by the violent repression of protesters against the Iranian regime.

In its report to the 52nd Human Rights Council (March 2023), the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, denounces the persistent violent response by the Iranian security forces leading to deaths of protesters, severe injuries and thousands arrestations and detentions, with life-imprisonment and death sentences. The report documents cases of solitary confinement, ill-treatments and inhumane conditions of detention, as well as denial of access to healthcare [1].

The WMA reaffirms its Resolution supporting the Rights of Patients and Physicians in the Islamic Republic of Iran, its statements on solitary confinement and in support of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. The WMA condemns the persistent use of brutal and lethal force against protesters and calls on the Iranian authorities to:
    • immediately end all forms of violence, torture and ill-treatment of protesters and ensure that all perpetrators responsible for violence, torture and ill-treatment are held accountable;
    • fully adhere to its human rights obligations, including the right to peaceful demonstration and to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;
    • respect the autonomy of physicians and in particular their ethical duty to provide care to anyone on the basis of medical need alone, and
    • ensure that healthcare equipment and facilities are used for health care purposes only.
  1. The WMA urges the international community to support efforts to promote accountability for recent and long-standing violations carried out with impunity in Iran.

 

[1] Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, March 2023

 

Adopted by the 73rd WMA General Assembly, Berlin, Germany, October 2022

Preamble

The ongoing war in Ukraine has led to millions of refugees who have experienced trauma and an unprecedented mental health crisis situation. Aid workers and some physicians who are assisting the refugees may not be well prepared to treat this war-related trauma.

Through the Ukraine Medical Help Fund, the WMA is leading a successful effort to provide material aid to Ukrainian refugees. The longevity and brutality of the war now require even more dedication to this effort and the expansion of aid to include mental health personnel trained in war-related trauma.

 

Recommendations

  1. That the WMA, through the Ukraine Medical Help Fund and other appropriate means, its constituent members and the medical community, continue to send medical supplies to Ukraine and offer support to organizations providing humanitarian missions and medical care to Ukrainian refugees, resource permitting.
  2. That the WMA, its constituent members and the medical community, advocate for early implementation of mental health measures, including suicide prevention efforts, and for addressing war-related trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder when assisting Ukrainian refugees. Special attention should be paid to disadvantaged groups.
  3. That the WMA, its constituent members and the medical community, advocate for educational measures to enhance the understanding of war-related trauma in war survivors and promote broad protective factors for war-affected people such as employment, housing, and food stability, especially in disadvantaged groups.

 

Adopted as Council Resolution by the 220th WMA Council Session, Paris (hybrid), France, April 2022
and as Resolution by the 73rd WMA General Assembly, Berlin, Germany, October 2022 

 

PREAMBLE

Reminding that the World Medical Association was founded on the backdrop of the atrocities of war and how the medical profession was abused for violation of human rights and dignity;

Reaffirming the WMA Declaration of Geneva as a beacon of fundamental principles to which the world’s physicians are committed;

Deeply shocked by the Russian army’s bombing of Ukrainian civilians and hospitals, including maternity wards, thus infringing on medical neutrality in conflict zones. The WMA and its members express their solidarity with the Ukrainian people and provide their support for Ukrainian and international healthcare workers mobilized under extremely difficult conditions;

Recalling the WMA’s Statements on the Cooperation of National Medical Associations during or in the Aftermath of Conflicts, on Armed Conflicts, the Regulations in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence, the Statement on the Protection and Integrity of Medical Personnel in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence, the Declaration on the protection of healthcare workers in emergency situations and the Statement on Medical Care for Migrants;

Emphasizing the need to respect the Geneva Conventions and their protocols as the core of international humanitarian law, as well as the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2286;

Considering the suffering and human tragedy caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including a refugee crisis on a massive scale;

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. The Constituent Members of the WMA stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian Medical Association and all healthcare professionals.
  2. The WMA condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calls for an end to hostilities.
  3. The WMA considers that Russia’s political leadership and armed forces bear responsibility for the human suffering caused by the conflict.
  4. The WMA calls on Russian and Ukrainian doctors to hold high the principles in the WMA Declaration of Geneva and other documents that serve as guidance for medical personnel during times of conflict.
  5. The WMA demands that the parties to the conflict respect relevant Humanitarian Law and do not use health facilities as military quarters, nor target health institutions, workers and vehicles, or restrict the access of wounded persons and patients to healthcare, as set out in the WMA Declaration on the Protection of Health Workers in Situations of Violence.
  6. The WMA stresses that the parties to the conflict must strive to protect the most vulnerable populations.
  7. The WMA underlines that it is essential that access to medical care be guaranteed to all victims, civil or military, of this conflict, without distinction.
  8. Physicians and all other medical personnel, both Ukrainian and international, involved in NGOs, must not under any circumstances be hindered in the exercise of their unwavering duty, in accordance with the international recommendations provided in the WMA declaration on the protection of healthcare workers in emergency situations, the WMA’s position on the protection and integrity of medical personnel in armed conflicts and other violent situations and in the declaration of the United Nations General Assembly on the rights and responsibility of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect human rights and universally recognized fundamental freedoms.
  9. The WMA calls on the parties to ensure that essential services are provided to those within areas damaged and disrupted by conflict.
  10. The WMA calls on the international community and governments to come to the aid of all persons displaced by this conflict who may choose their country as a destination following their departure from Ukraine.
  11. The WMA urges all nations receiving persons fleeing the conflict to ensure access to safe and adequate living conditions and essential services to all migrants, including appropriate medical care, as needed.
  12. The WMA calls on the parties to the conflict as well as the international community to ensure that when the conflict ends, priority must be given to rebuilding the essential infrastructure necessary for a healthy life, including shelter, sewerage, fresh water supplies, and food provision, followed by the restoration of educational and occupational opportunities.

Adopted by the 72nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021

 

Nicaragua is currently in a phase of accelerated expansion and community transmission of Covid-19. It is urgent for health authorities to promote necessary and proportionate measures to contain the progress of the pandemic.

The exponential increase in Covid-19 cases has caused a collapse of Nicaragua’s public and private healthcare system. The lack of basic medical devices has contributed to dozens of doctors and healthcare professionals becoming infected and a large number who have died.

The Nicaraguan medical profession, through more than 30 medical societies and the Covid-19 citizen observatory, has been denouncing this situation for a long time. Nonetheless, the Special Cybercrime Act approved by the Government of Nicaragua, in force since 30 December 2020, establishes sentences of 1 to 10 years in prison for all those who spread news that produces fear or anxiety in the population.

This situation of persecution is compounded by the approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, as doctors in the public sector who demanded protective measures like masks, gloves or vaccines, were dismissed under the accusation that they disrupted the public peace. Private-sector physicians who cared for patients or guided the population on self-protection measures against the pandemic were called to stop those statements, under penalty of withdrawing their licence to practice medicine or the imposition of criminal penalties, among other terrorism-related charges.

The General Assembly of the World Medical Association (WMA) hereby ratifies the letter from its president, Dr Barbe, sent on 31 August to the president of the Republic of Nicaragua, Mr Daniel Ortega, which outlines the dramatic situation suffered by Nicaraguan medical professionals and offers its support to the Declarations of 25 June 2018 and 23 August 2021 from CONFEMEL (Latin American and Caribbean Medical Confederation).

The World Medical Association (WMA) opposes and observes with extreme concern any governmental interference that threatens the freedom of professional practice and freedom of expression of any doctor. It also urges the government of Nicaragua and the members of its National Assembly:

  • to protect all health professionals;
  • to avoid or modify any legal regulation that may harm the professional autonomy of physicians.

The World Medical Association (WMA) also wishes to highlight the extraordinary role of Nicaraguan doctors, which is inherent to our ancient profession. It actively supports and promotes the right of everyone to receive information and medical care based solely on their clinical needs.

 

Adopted by the 72nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021

 

While international travel has begun to normalize for many of those who have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV 2, fully vaccinated citizens of some countries are still subject to significant travel restrictions, as the vaccines they have received are not accepted as proof of full protection in all countries. Many countries only consider those who have received certain vaccines from specific countries to be fully vaccinated, while other vaccines are not recognized or available.

These practices effectively lead to discriminatory border restrictions against travelers who have been fully vaccinated using vaccine regimens approved in their home countries. This may restrict international cooperation and business, mainly disadvantaging poorer countries and regions. In some cases, it has even led fully vaccinated individuals to request third and fourth vaccine doses in order to provide proof of the required level of protection.

The WMA understands the reluctance of pharmaceutical authorities to allow the market introduction of vaccines for which an authorization has not been applied in their jurisdiction, or which are still in the process of authorization, or which may have been rejected because their ethical or technical standards of testing or production do not meet the required standards.

However, the WMA considers it necessary to evaluate Covid-19 vaccines based solely on their effectiveness against infection and severe illness when determining the reliability of their protection for travel purposes. Presently, there are enough data available to assess the protection offered by vaccines, independent of their marketing authorization status. Should vaccines be deemed to be ineffective, and therefore not acceptable as proof of protection, the reasons for such decisions should be made public.

We call on national governments and the European Union to immediately adopt fair, harmonized, and non-discriminatory rules to enable safe and fair travel opportunities, and to inform the public about any serious concerns that may hinder the acceptance of specific vaccines.

 

 

Adopted by the 170th WMA Council Session, Divonne-les-Bains, France, May 2005
and amended and adopted as a Resolution by the 72nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021

 

PREAMBLE

In line with the Charter of the United Nations, Member States of the WHO recognize the “enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” as a fundamental right of every human being “without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition”, uphold that “the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent upon the fullest co-operation of individuals and States” (Preamble of WHO’s Constitution).

Taiwan, located at a key position in the Asia-Pacific region, has long enjoyed close relationship with countries and areas of the region, with over 20 million regional and international travelers per year. Thus, the devastating outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus further highlights the urgency and importance of inclusiveness and leaving no one behind in the global health network. By continuing to refuse to grant Taiwan observer status to the WHA and full access to its meetings, mechanisms and activities, the WHO fails to fulfill the principles of universality and equality established in WHO’s constitution as well as the ethical standards of the organization.

From 2009 to 2016, Taiwan was invited to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an Observer, with very limited access to WHO technical briefings, mechanisms and activities. Since 2017, the WHO has not granted the Observer status to Taiwan anymore.

Although Taiwan has been officially included in the implementation framework of the International Health Regulations (IHR) since 2009, its contact point information is not included on the IHR Portal established by WHO, impeding timely exchange of information and communication to the detriment of Taiwan. Delayed and/or incomplete medical information can impact adversely on the Taiwanese population, causing a gap in Taiwan’s domestic disease control network, with unavoidable implications for global health.

Allowing the participation of Taiwan to the World Health Assembly and fostering its inclusion in all WHO’s health programmes and in the International Health Regulations would benefit the people in Taiwan, but also the WHO and its member states as well as all related parties.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. Considering the Sustainable Development Goal 3 aiming to ensure healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages and WHO’s primary objective to “attain by all peoples the highest possible level of health” (article 1 of WHO’s Constitution), both aims requiring a true inclusive strategy comprising all populations worldwide,
  1. Reminding the ethical core value of the medical profession to serve humanity regardless of any other considerations than people’s health and well-being, and firmly committed to the safeguard and promotion of health-related human rights, the WMA and its constituent members call on:
    • WHO to grant Taiwan observer status to the World Health Assembly and to ensure Taiwan’s participation in all its health programs based on a substantive, timely and professional basis,
    • WHO and its Member States to include Taiwan as a full participating party to the International Health Regulations, allowing its critical contribution to the global health protection network.

Adopted by the 217th WMA Council Session, Seoul (online), April 2021
and adopted by the 72nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021

 

The World Medical Association is deeply concerned to see the alarming and worsening Covid crisis in many countries worldwide. We recognise the huge challenges doctors and other healthcare professionals are facing in maintaining healthcare systems in such harrowing conditions. The WMA calls on the international community and governments to urgently prioritise support and aid to these the worst affected nations, including oxygen, drugs, vaccines, Personnal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other equipment as needed, and to strengthen healthcare system resilience in the face of future pandemics. The pandemic will not end until we tackle Covid in every nation and this is a time for global cooperation, solidarity and support for one another.

Adopted by the 217th WMA Council Session, Seoul (online), April 2021
and by the 72nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021

 

The World Medical Association notes with increasing alarm, the continuing actions of the current police and Myanmar security forces including arbitrary arrests and detention of health personnel and other citizens, attacks against physicians and other health personnel and facilities, and continuing harassment and intimidation of protesters, human rights defenders and journalists. The WMA and its members are seriously disturbed by their terrorizing, arresting, kidnapping and murdering health care workers for treating protesters.

With a collapsed health system, the Covid pandemic is devastating Myanmar with lack of medical equipment and personnel and increasing deaths. Recent reports of forcing hundreds of physicians to secretly treat Covid patients and ambushing and arresting physicians after luring them to a non-existent Covid patient’s home, are cause for further dismay.

These activities are in total opposition to the international recommendations in the WMA Declaration on the Protection of Health Care Workers in situation of Violence, the WMA Statement 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.

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

  • Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of protesters, including health personnel who are arrested;
  • Release protesters and personnel immediately and unconditionally, and drop all charges against them since their detention is arbitrary as it only aims at preventing freedom of expression and their human rights activities;
  • Put an urgent end to attacks against health personnel and facilities and ensure their protection to provide adequate health care provisions to all.
  • 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;
  • 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.
  • Cooperate with international fact-finding commissions.

 

Adopted by the 71st WMA General Assembly (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020

 

PREAMBLE

Exponential increase in the number of climate change related fires, hurricanes, ice meltdowns, heat waves and deforestation, especially of the rainforests, show that there is no time to waste. There is an urgent need to accelerate the efforts that will trigger the changes to be implemented by international and national policy and decision makers in order to stop as well as to adapt to the climate crisis.

Climate change and air pollution are closely connected, both have huge impacts on human health and result from anthropogenic emissions due to the combustion of fossil fuels. As it is mentioned by international bodies such as Clean Air Initiative founded by the UN, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC);  all governments, researchers and non-governmental organisations should urgently start to tackle the air pollution and climate crisis together.

Considering the urgency and complexity of climate change, it is needed to create a global change to stop the causes of this crisis. Therefore, WMA calls on international, national, regional or provincial decision makers such as politicians, policy makers and judges to recognize the urgency, complexity, and interconnectedness of the essence of the climate crisis action and to take immediate action in order to protect the rights of future generations for the sake of climate justice.

Climate crisis causes a serious loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems and cultural damage, which has severe impacts on all inhabitants of the world. In order to ensure the right to live for the future generations, there is an imminent need for binding legal measures to be adopted and implemented at the national and international arena against the polluters causing emissions that cause especially climate crisis as well as air, water and soil pollution.

Health professionals have a duty to care, respect and protect the human life, as well as the right to live for future generations and all forms of the natural living world. WMA believes that all people, including future generations, have the right to the environmental, economic and social resources needed for healthy and productive lives; such as clean air, soil, water and food security. Therefore; WMA has a historical responsibility of acting proactively in order to initiate the necessary changes and solutions to struggle with the climate crisis.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

WMA proposes the following recommendations to its members and other related organizations:

  1. Urge to ask its members to collaborate with relevant bodies in their countries in order to raise awareness about the necessity for legally binding sanctions and policies at the national and international level for the polluters that threaten the right to live for the future generations by emitting gases which are proven to cause climate crisis and air, soil and water pollution.
  2. Urge all national governments, policy makers, researchers and health professionals to mobilize in order to develop and implement comprehensive policies to struggle with the problems due to the use of fossil fuels by industry as well as the individuals that lead to problems such as climate crisis air, water and soil pollution.
  3. Urge all medical professionals, media, governmental and non – governmental institutions to refer climate change as ‘climate crisis’ and calls the leaders of national, state or provincial, regional, city, and local governments to declare a climate emergency in order to initiate a society-wide action. Moreover, encourage the media to promote the concept and meaning of the right to live for future generations.
  4. Update the curriculum at medical schools and add compulsory sections on environmental health in order to educate health professionals that are able to think critically about the health impacts of the environmental problems, are aware of the reasons, impacts/dimensions of the climate crisis and able to offer solutions designed to protect the rights and health of future generations.
  5. Advocate and organize interdisiplinary campaigns in order to stop the new permissions from being given to the industrial facilities using fossil fuels that cause climate crisis and pollution.
  6. Urge national governments and international bodies such as WHO to adopt stricter regulations on environmental protection and evaluation, permission, monitoring and control procedures of new industrial facilities to limit the health impact resulting from their emissions.
  7. Advocate actively for policies that will maximize health benefits by reducing air pollutants (such as ground ozone and particulate matter etc.) and carbon emissions, increase walking, cycling, and use of public transport, and consumption of nutritious, plant-rich diets to ensure climate justice. Urge international, national, state or provincial, regional, city, and local governments to adopt and implement air quality and climate change policies that will achieve the WHO Ambient Air Quality Guideline values.
  8. Urge national, state or provincial, regional, city, and local governments through public campaigns and advocacy to cut subsidies given to fossil fuel industries and to direct these subsidies to support just transition, energy efficiency measures, green energy resources and public welfare.
  9. Urge governments and private sector to invest in policies that support a just transition for workers and communities adversely impacted by the move to a low-carbon economy and to build social protection through investment in and transition to green jobs.
  10. Urge national, state or provincial, regional, city, and local governments to act on other causes of climate crisis such as industrial agriculture, animal husbandry and deforestation, to promote legal trade and financing policies that prioritize and enable sustainable agro-ecological practices, end deforestation for the expansion of industrial agriculture and to reduce reliance on industrial animal-based agriculture and environmentally damaging agricultural and fisheries practices.
  11. Urge national, state or provincial, regional, city, and local governments to invest in human capacity and knowledge infrastructure to spread regenerative agriculture solutions that can produce the change needed while providing myriad co-benefits to farmers and consumers, providing a global support network – on the ground – for farmers and capturing carbon in the soil. Emphasize building resilient and regenerative local food systems that can reduce carbon emissions, support the livelihoods of agricultural communities and provide food security for future generations.
  12. Urge national governments, together with the involvement of health sector, to develop national adaptation plans and to conduct national assessments of climate crisis impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation for health.

 

Adopted by the 71st WMA General Assembly (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020
and reaffirmed by the 229th WMA Council Session, Montevideo, Uruguay, April 2025

 

PREAMBLE

It is incumbent upon health professionals to consider the health and human rights of people globally and denounce instances where these rights are being abused. The treatment of the Uighur people in the Xinjiang region of China is one such case.

Documented reports of physical and sexual abuse of Uighur people in China reveal unequivocal human rights violations. Reports note numerous violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The transgressions include, but are not limited to:

  • Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
  • Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
  • Article 25 (i): Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.[1]

Human rights organisations and sovereign states are increasingly drawing attention to the situation in Xinjiang, with over 20 United Nations ambassadors taking the rare step of issuing a joint letter to the UN Human Rights Council in 2019 expressing concerns about the treatment of the Uighurs in China and demanding that international independent observers be allowed into the region.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

In the light of information and reports of systematic and repeated human rights violations against Uighur people in China, and its impact on the health of the Uighur people and health care supplies throughout the world, the WMA calls on its constituent members, physicians and the international health community to:

  1. formally condemn the treatment of the Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang region and call upon physicians to uphold the guidelines set out in the WMA Declaration of Tokyo and the WMA Resolution on the Responsibility of Physicians in the Documentation and Denunciation of Acts of Torture or Cruel or Inhuman or Degrading Treatment;
  2. support the requests made in the July 2019 letter to the UN Human Rights Council High Commissioner calling for international independent observers to be allowed into the Xinjiang region of China.
  3. Reaffirm its Statement on Forced and Coerced Sterilisation, asserting that no person, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, medical condition or disability, should be subjected to forced or coerced permanent sterilisation, and call on its members medical associations to advocate against forced and coerced sterilisation in their own countries and globally; and
  4. Reiterate support of its Declaration on Fair Trade in Medical Products and Devices and urge its medical association members to promote fair and ethical trade in the health sector, and insist that the goods they use are not produced at the expense of the health of workers in the global community. To do this, physicians should;
    • raise awareness of the issue of ethical trade and promote the development of fair and ethically produced medical goods amongst colleagues and those working within health systems.
    • play a leadership role in integrating considerations of labour standards into purchasing decisions within healthcare organisations.[1] https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

Adopted by the 71st WMA General Assembly (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020
and reaffirmed by the 226th Council Session, Seoul, Korea, April 2024

 

On the eve of the WMA General Assembly, Córdoba 2020, we are facing an escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world and an alarming exponential pressure on healthcare professionals.

The WMA and its members request that October 30 be recognised as the International Day of the Medical Profession as a tribute to the commitment of physicians to the service of humankind, to the health and well-being of their patients, in the respect the ethical values of the profession.

Adopted by the 71st WMA General Assembly (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020

 

PREAMBLE

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has a tight grip on the world. Over a million people have died worldwide and millions more are still suffering the effects of this virus and the disease it causes.

A vaccine is widely seen as the best way to stop the spread of the virus, gain control of the pandemic and save human lives.

WMA policy clearly states that “vaccination and immunisation have been acknowledged as an effective and safe preventive strategy for several communicable diseases. And vaccine development and administration have been the most significant intervention to eradicate infectious diseases and influence global health in modern times”.

While there are currently no approved vaccines for COVID-19, an unprecedented global effort is underway, both in terms of scale and speed, to develop a safe and effective vaccine and to optimise procurement and distribution to ensure that all regions of the world stand to benefit as quickly as possible. Some current predictions anticipate an initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the first half of 2021. Due to intensive efforts to produce effective vaccines and fast track them for market authorisation, many clinical trials have been placed on extremely accelerated schedules. Processes usually requiring years are being condensed into months, which could potentially pose a threat to the ethical principles outlined in the WMA Declaration of Helsinki.

Questions arose quite early in the pandemic about how to distribute a potential new vaccine quickly and equitably. Many higher-income countries have already signed bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical companies to supply or distribute COVID-19 vaccine candidates, which, given the limitations on production capacity, could leave developing countries at a disadvantage as they strive to protect their populations.

It is a fact that a pandemic cannot be contained by one country alone; it requires a collaborative, global effort, as the WMA has outlined in its Statement on Epidemics and Pandemics and the Statement on Avian and Pandemic Influenza.

In the same spirit, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have initiated the COVAX platform in order to guarantee that all participating countries, regardless of their income, have equal access to new COVID-19 vaccines once they are developed.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

The World Medical Association

  1. welcomes multilateral solutions in the global battle against COVID-19, in particular the COVAX platform, for ensuring equitable, global distribution of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine;
  2. emphasises that no country should be left behind in the race to vaccinate its population against this global threat;
  3. stresses the need to balance between the desire of each country to protect its citizens and the need for the vaccine to be distributed worldwide;
  4. reiterates that all clinical trials must follow the ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects as set forth in the WMA Declaration of Helsinki;
  5. states that longer-term, formal safety monitoring is necessary in cases where clinical trials have been accelerated to fast track vaccines for market authorisation;
  6. calls attention to the heightened risk faced by health workers and vulnerable populations in a pandemic situation and therefore urges that these individuals be among the first to receive a safe and effective vaccine;
  7. renews its call to all constituent members to increase awareness of immunisation schedules and calls upon individual physicians to pay special attention to addressing the concerns of vaccine-hesitant patients;
  8. reaffirms its warning on vaccine hesitancy (April 2019) and reiterates the importance of maintaining other important routine vaccinations, e.g. against polio, measles and influenza;
  9. calls for coordinated efforts to increase public trust in vaccination in the face of disinformation campaigns and anti-vaccine movements which undermine the health of both children and adults.

Adopted by the 71st WMA General Assembly (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020

 

PREAMBLE

The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing one of the greatest challenges that healthcare professionals have ever faced in recent decades. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 has exposed healthcare professionals and their social and family environment to unprecedented levels of risk. Although not representative, data from many countries across all regions indicate that the number of SARS CoV-2 virus infections among healthcare professionals has reached alarming numbers for any healthcare system.

The constant risk of infection and, in many cases, the lack of adequate material and human resources, the high number of infected, the physicians’ morbidity and mortality and the lack of human resources policies is causing a physical and emotional exhaustion among health professionals. Moreover, thousands of physicians are losing their lives practicing their profession and fulfilling their ethical duties, a number that is increasing as the pandemic advances in most countries.

As a result of this global situation, the WMA offered its support to the World Health Professions Alliance open letter which calls on immediate G20 action to secure personal protective equipment for health personnel dated April 9, 2020, and denounced it through its Urgent Call  for governments to support healthcare staff in the battle against Covid-19 on  April 2, 2020.

The derived consequences that the pandemic will cause in the political, economic and social spheres in all countries should be added to this situation. All of this will worsen the global population’s health and will require an effort and commitment from the medical profession, its National Medical Associations and the WMA.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

The WMA wants to recognise the fight of the medical profession against the pandemic through this Urgent Resolution and advocates to:

  1. Sufficient provision of equipment and personal protection material (PPE) for health professionals, which allows healthcare and guarantees the availability of this material in a situation of possible outbreaks.
  2. Urge governments to adopt a multilateral and coordinated approach on a global scale of the crisis to promote equality in interventions, access to health services, treatments and future vaccines.
  3. Provide enough financing to healthcare systems so that they can face the costs of the pandemic and guarantee accessible and quality healthcare.
  4. The National Medical Associations and the WMA encourage an active participation in the planning and management of all stages of the response to the epidemic.
  5. Recognise that SARS CoV-2 infection be recognised as an occupational disease and that the medical profession be declared a “profession at risk”. Likewise, we request that taking care of healthcare professionals be a priority, especially in the field of mental health.
  6. Fight against violence towards doctors and against any sign of their stigmatisation by promoting zero tolerance of violence in healthcare settings.
  7. Support the medical profession that continues to honour its commitment to science and patients. Because current medical professionalism is one of the few and last defence that the seriously ill, excluded and helpless patients have to maintain a minimum of health, quality of life and human dignity.
  8. Urge governments to include health system strengthening and resilience as part of national COVID recovery plans.

Adopted by the 70th WMA General Assembly, Tbilisi, Georgia, October 2019

 

Health professionals have an important role in advocating to protect the health of citizens around the world, and therefore have a responsibility to demand greater action on climate change.

The UN summit on climate action that took place in September 2019 further demonstrated the growing recognition that climate change action must be accelerated, with many countries making commitments to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and others committing to boost national action plans by 2020.

There is emerging consensus within the medical profession globally that action on climate change must be accelerated.

The WMA and its constituent members and the international health community:

  • declare a climate emergency and call the international health community to join their mobilisation;
  • commit to advocate to protect the health of citizens across the globe in relation to climate change;
  • urge national government to rapidly work to deliver carbon neutrality by 2030, so as to minimise the life-threatening impacts of climate change on health;
  • must acknowledge the environmental footprint of the global healthcare sector, and act to reduce waste and prevent pollution to ensure healthcare sustainability.

 

Adopted by the 210th WMA Council Session, Reykjavik, Iceland, October 2018* and
reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 224th WMA Council, Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

 

PREAMBLE

There is universal agreement that physicians must not participate in executions because such participation is incompatible with the physician’s role as healer. The use of a physician’s knowledge and clinical skill for purposes other than promoting health, wellbeing and welfare undermines a basic ethical foundation of medicine. The WMA Declaration of Geneva states: “I will maintain the utmost respect for human life”, and “I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat”.

As citizens, physicians have the right to form views about capital punishment based on their individual moral beliefs. As members of the medical profession, they must uphold the prohibition against participation in capital punishment.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

Therefore, the World Medical Association

  1. AFFIRMS that it is unethical for physicians to participate in capital punishment, in any way, or during any step of the execution process, including its planning and the instruction and/or training of persons to perform executions.
  2. REQUESTS firmly its constituent members to advise all physicians that any participation in capital punishment as stated above is unethical.
  3. URGES its constituent members to lobby actively national governments and legislators against any participation of physicians in capital punishment.

 

*The WMA Resolution on Prohibition of Physician Participation in Capital Punishment is the result of a revision in 2018 merging two WMA policies: the Resolution on Physician Participation in Capital Punishment (2008) and the WMA Resolution to Reaffirm WMA’s Prohibition of Physician Participation in Capital Punishment (2012). These two policies have then been rescinded and archived.

Adopted by the 69th WMA General Assembly, Reykjavik, Iceland, October 2018
and rescinded and archived by the 72nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021

Nowadays, we are facing increased migration trends globally. This situation, far from being resolved, has worsened over the last months, exacerbated by political, social and economic events, with serious impacts on the population deteriorating the quality of life and in some cases putting people in mortal danger. This violates their fundamental right to health and in many cases forces them to abandon their countries to search for a better life.

International migration is a global phenomenon, caused by multiple factors, including demographic and economic inequalities among countries, in addition to war, hunger and natural disasters. Migration policies adopted by the majority of receiving countries are becoming more and more restrictive towards economic migrants.

The World Medical Association (WMA) considers that health is a basic need, a human right and one of the essential drivers of economic and social development. Increased migration is a phenomenon linked to progress and to the trends of the 21st century.

The WMA reaffirms its Resolution on Refugees and Migrants adopted in October 2016.

The WMA, its constituent members and the international health community should advocate for:

  1. Strong continued engagement of physicians in the defense of human rights and dignity of all people worldwide, as well as combatting suffering, pain and illness;
  2. The prioritization of the care of human beings above any other consideration or interest;
  3. Providing the necessary healthcare, through international cooperation, directed to countries that welcome and receive large number of migrants.
  4. Governments to reach political agreements to obtain the necessary health resources to deliver care in an adequate and coordinated manner to the migrant population.

The WMA emphasizes the role of physicians to actively support and promote the rights of all people to medical care based solely on clinical necessity, and protest against legislation and practices contrary to this fundamental right.

Adopted by the 206th WMA Council Session, Livingstone, April 2017
and reaffirmed as a Resolution by the 71st WMA General Assembly (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020
and rescinded and archived by the 75th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, October 2024

The World Medical Association notes with serious concerns that Dr Serdar Küni, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey’s representative in Cizre and former president of the Şırnak medical chamber, is still imprisoned after 6 months of detention, on charges that he provided medical treatment to alleged members of Kurdish armed groups.

The case of Dr. Küni is one example amongst many of ongoing arrests, detentions, and dismissals of physicians and other health professionals in Turkey since July 2015, when unrest broke out in the southeast.

The WMA condemns such practices that threaten gravely the safety of physicians and the provision of health-care services. The protection of health professionals is fundamental, so that they can fulfil their duties to provide care for those in need, without regard to any element of identity, affiliation, or political opinion.

The WMA recalls the standards of international human rights law, specifically the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) ratified by Turkey. The Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights guarantees in its article 12 “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. This implies ensuring access to high quality healthcare, supported by a functioning healthcare system and safe conditions for the health workforce.

The WMA recalls as well the standards of international humanitarian law as well as the UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/2286 on Health Care in Armed Conflict that mandates that states should not punish medical personnel for carrying out medical activities compatible with medical ethics, or compel them to undertake actions that contravene these standards.

Furthermore, the WMA reaffirms the principles of medical ethics, including the WMA Regulations in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence as well as the Ethical Principles of Health Care in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Emergencies endorsed by the ICRC, civilian and military health-care organisations.

The WMA considers that punishing a physician for providing care to a patient constitutes a flagrant breach of international humanitarian and human rights standards as well as medical ethics. Ultimately it contravenes to the principle of humanity that includes the imperative to preserve human dignity.

Thus, in view of the next hearing on 24 April regarding Dr. Küni case at the Şırnak 2nd Heavy Penal Court, the WMA urges national medical associations and the international health community to mobilise in support of the immediate release of Dr. Serdar Küni and the charges based on his medical practice be dropped immediately and unconditionally.

The WMA calls as well national medical associations and the international health community to advocate for:

  • The full respect of Turkey’s humanitarian and human rights obligations, including the right to health, freedom of association and expression as well as the access to a fair trial;
  • The provision of effective remedy and reparation to victims of arbitrary arrests and detentions.

Adopted by the 43rd World Medical Assembly Malta, November 1991
and rescinded at the WMA General Assembly, Santiago 2005

  • WHEREAS the World Medical Association has adopted the “Statement on Health Hazards of Tobacco Products” calling for the prohibition of smoking, and
  • WHEREAS national medical associations have the recognition and the credibility to promote a tobacco-free society and have the responsibility to work for quality health care for all, and
  • WHEREAS the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), affiliated with the United Nations, is the body which establishes standards for international civil aviation for 162 member countries, and
  • WHEREAS it is essential to urge governments worldwide to support adoption of a standard by ICAO requiring smoke-free flights worldwide.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION RECOMMENDS THAT:

  1. National medical associations urge prompt adoption of bilateral or multilateral agreements requiring smoke-free international flights between specific countries, while supporting the long-term objective of adoption of a smoke-free standard by ICAO.
  2. National medical associations meet with government officials responsible for policy that regulate international commercial airline flights and urge them to support an ICAO standard for smoke-free flights.
  3. National medical associations write to their country’s ICAO representative urging them to initiate or support a standard for smoke-free flights (list attached).
  4. National medical associations urge their Minister of Transportation to initiate bilateral or multilateral agreements banning smoking on all flights.
  5. National medical associations contact their Minister of Health and members of parliament or congress to solicit support for the initiative.
  6. National medical associations send a summary report to the WMA Secretariat regarding the result of actions taken to achieve the goal of banning smoking on all commercial flights so that ideas can be shared.The World Medical Association wishes to express its appreciation to the American Cancer Society for supplying the information on which the resolution to “Prohibit Smoking on International Flights” is based.

    THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ICAO COUNCIL

    Thirty-three nations make-up the ICAO Council, which is ICAO’s executive decision-making body. While support from all nations is needed to achieve an international airline smoking ban, it is especially important for groups within the 33 ICAO Council-member nations to make their views known. The 33 nations, and the names of their representatives, are as follows:

NATION REPRESENTATIVE
Argentina R.F. Cardoso
Australia B. Weeden
Brazil C. Pinheiro
Canada G. H. Duguay
Chile J.B. Lavin
People’s Republic of China Li Keli (Alternate)
Czechoslovakia O. Vodieka
Egypt M.A. Abulmagd
Finland V.M. Metsalampf
France P. Henault
Germany U. Gartner
Ghana J.O. Koranteng
Honduras C.A. Vasquez Rodriguez
India V. Pattanayak
Indonesia A. Boediman
Iraq S.A.A. Al-Khayat
Italy O. Stea-Antonini
Japan T. Fujita
Madagascar A. Razafindramisa
Mexico J. Perez y Bouras
Netherlands A.C.H. van Schelle
Nigeria D.O. Eniojukan
Pakistan E.A. Qureshi
Saudi Arabia S. Al-Ghamdi
Senegal P. Diouf
Spain L. Androver
Trinidad and Tobago M.E. Nancoo
Tanzania Dr C.V. Mpinga Mgana
Venezuela Dr L.E. Vera Barrios
Tunisia A. R. El Hicheri
USSR I.F. Vasin
United Kingdom F.A. Neal
United States D.M. Newman

Adopted by the 40th World Medical Assembly Vienna, Austria, September 1988
and rescinded at the WMA General Assembly, Santiago 2005

  • WHEREAS there is concern that some generic drugs may be of sub-standard quality, and
  • WHEREAS patients may be injured and physicians held liable for injuries resulting from the use of sub-standard generic drugs,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that:

  1. WMA supports the right and the obligation of physicians to exercise their professional judgement for the benefit of their patients.
  2. WMA opposes any interference with the physicians exercise of professional judgement in the best interest of patients.
  3. The prescription of drugs and medicines involves the exercise of the physicians professional judgment.
  4. The mandated use of generic drugs which may be sub-standard interferes with the exercise of the physicians professional judgement, and may injure patients and expose the physician to liability.
  5. WMA fully supports the efforts of all national medical associations to preserve the physician’s exercise of professional judgement from interference that may result in injury to patients and liability for physicians.