20241031-letter to members

ASSOCIATION MEDICALE MONDIALE
WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
ASOCIACION MEDICA MUNDIAL
Immeuble A “Keynes” Website : www.wma.net
13A, chemin du Levant Telephone : (33) 4 50 40 75 75
01210 FERNEY-VOLTAIRE Fax : (33) 4 50 40 59 37
France E-mail address : wma@wma.net
To the Constituent Members
and the Associate Members
of the World Medical Association
Observers and Guests of the
2024 WMA General Assembly
31 October 2024
2024 WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, 16-19 October 2024
Dear Colleagues,
Dear Friends,
I would like to thank you sincerely for your fruitful contributions to the work of our 2024 General
Assembly in Helsinki.
We are honoured to have Dr Philip Ashok from Malaysia as our new President for 2024-2025 and
are most grateful to our outgoing President, Dr Lujain AlQodmani from Kuwait, for her
contribution as President for the term 2023-2024. Dr AlQodmani will remain active as Immediate
Past President for the next year. Dr Jacqueline Kitulu from Kenya was elected as President for
2025-2026.
The General Assembly adopted essential new policies and policy revisions, reflecting the latest
consensus opinions of our profession. You will find below the list of adopted policies from this
meeting (available as well on WMA website):
▪ WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human
Participants (revised)
▪ WMA Declaration of Kigali on the Ethical Use of Medical Technology (revised)
▪ WMA Declaration on Prevention and Reduction of Air Pollution to Improve Air Quality
▪ WMA Statement on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (revised)
▪ WMA Statement on Epidemics and Pandemics (revised)
▪ WMA Statement on Human Papillomavirus Vaccination (revised)
▪ WMA Resolution on Anti-LGBTQ Legislation
▪ WMA Resolution on Organ Donation in Prisoners
▪ WMA Resolution on Plastics and Health
▪ WMA Resolution on the Protection of Healthcare in Israel and Gaza
Policies reaffirmed by the 226th
Council Session, Seoul, April 2024 and the 227th
Council
Session, Helsinki, October 2024
WMA page 2
▪ WMA Declaration of Hong Kong on the Abuse of Older People (with minor revision)
▪ WMA Guidelines on Promotional Mass Media Appearance by Physicians (with minor revision)
▪ WMA Statement on Adolescent Suicide (with minor revision)
▪ WMA Statement on Non-Discrimination in Professional Membership and Activities of
Physicians (with minor revision)
▪ WMA Resolution on the Revocation of WHO Guidelines on Opioid Use (with minor revision)
▪ WMA Resolution in Support of an International Day of the Medical Profession
▪ WMA Resolution in support of the Turkish Medical Association (with minor revision)
Several press releases were issued on the occasion of the General Assembly. Please visit
https://www.wma.net/news-press/press-releases/ to see them.
These are strong policies and we encourage you to promulgate them actively amongst your
membership. We hope that your organisational leadership and membership will discuss them and
use them as guidance resources to develop your national policies and apply their principles in your
daily work as physicians serving your patients. Some Constituent Members have already published
or planned significant articles on the revised Declaration of Helsinki and I encourage you to do the
same so that this document is circulated widely.
The following standing document was revised, and its updated version is available in the
members’ area: Rules Applicable to WMA Associate Membership (AM1/Oct2024).
The WMA depository folder includes the meeting documents with the final index. As soon as
ready, the minutes of the Council/GA sessions will be available in the folder:
“07_ReportsAndMinutes_ToBeApproved”.
This message would be incomplete without thanking all those who have assisted in the WMA work
since last year’s Assembly, be it financially, with voluntary efforts, or in other ways.
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the Finnish Medical Association for its warm
welcome and productive cooperation in organising our General Assembly in the beautiful city of
Helsinki.
With kind regards,
Dr. Otmar Kloiber
Secretary General
World Medical Association
P.S. You may find the next meetings organised by the WMA on our event page
(https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/events/):
– 229th
WMA Council Session, Montevideo, 24-26 April 2025
– WFME World Conference, Bangkok, 25-28 May 2025
– WMA General Assembly, Porto, 8-11 October 2025
– International Chair in Bioethics 17th
World Conference, Ljubljana, 24-26 November 2025