What We Do / Medical Ethics / Declaration of Geneva

Declaration of Geneva

The "Modern Hippocratic Oath"

The Declaration of Geneva is one of the World Medical Association’s (WMA) oldest policies adopted by the 2nd General Assembly in Geneva in 1948. It builds on the principles of the Hippocratic Oath, and is now known as its modern version.

It also remains one of the most consistent documents of the WMA. With only very few and careful revisions over many decades, it safeguards the ethical principles of the medical profession, relatively uninfluenced by zeitgeist and modernism.

The Oath should not be read alone, but in parallel with the more specific and detailed policies of the WMA especially the International Code of Medical Ethics, which followed the Declaration of Geneva as early as 1948.

*Previous archived versions below are for research purpose only.

*For the versions in other languages, please see “WMA Policy Resources” on the right side.

  • Declaration of Geneva 
  • International Code of Medical Ethics 
  • Translations in languages other than the WMA official languages (English/Spanish/French) are available below:
    • جمعية الطب العالمية  (Arabic) provided by the University of New Mexico and proofread by the Israeli Medical Association and the Kuwait Medical Association
    • Esperanto provided by the Universal Medical Esperanto-Association (Universala Medicina Esperanto-Asocio (UMEA))
    • Finnish provided by the Finnish Medical Association
    • Georgian provided by the Georgian Medical Association
    • German translated by the German Medical Association
    • Greek translated by the Panhellenic Medical Association
    • Hungarian translated by the Hungarian Medical Association
    • Icelandic translated by the Icelandic Medical Association
    • Latvian translated by the Latvian Medical Association
    • Navajo (Dine) provided by the University of New Mexico (translated by Frank Morgan, an accomplished bilingual educator)
    • Polish translated by the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists
    • Portuguese
    • Romanian provided by the Romanian College of Physicians
    • Serbian certified by a sworn Court translator for the English language, Ms. Tatjana Popovic
    • Ukrainian translated by the Ukrainian Medical Association

Public consultation on a draft revised version of the International Code of Medical Ethics

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