Declaration of Helsinki
Medical Research Involving Human Subjects
The Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) is the World Medical Association’s (WMA) best-known policy statement. The first version was adopted in 1964 and has been amended seven times since, most recently at the General Assembly in October 2013. The current (2013) version is the only official one; all previous versions* have been replaced and should not be used or cited except for historical purposes. The WMA would like to thank all those who submitted comments and suggestions for the most recent revision of the DoH.
In 2014, the WMA produced a celebratory publication to mark the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Helsinki. “The World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: 1964-2014 50 Years of Evolution of Medical Research Ethics” can be ordered online here.
Since 2016, the Declaration of Taipei on Ethical Considerations regarding Health Databases and Biobanks has complemented the Declaration of Helsinki.
At the WMA Council meeting in April 2022, a workgroup was established to begin another revision of this important document. The American Medical Association (AMA) is leading this process.
The regional expert meetings are planned to discuss this revision and it was started with the Asian region in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 9-11 December. The next meeting will be in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 24-25 February 2023. The high-level discussion through these regional meetings will bring regional and international experts together to consider the first steps of the revision.
*Translations in languages other than the WMA official languages (English/Spanish/French) are available below:
- Finnish translated by the Finnish Medical Association
- German translated by the German Medical Association
- Japanese translated by the Japan Medical Association
- Portuguese version
- Czech translated by the Czech Medical Association
- Hungarian translated by the Center for Ethics and Law in Biomedicine, Hungary
*Previous archived versions below are for research and information purpose only, use the updated version as reference.
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1964
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1975
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1983
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1989
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1996
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 2000
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 2004
- Declaration of Helsinki – Version 2008