WMA_12.1 Large-scale emergencies

May 2017
70th Session of the World Health Assembly
Item 12.1: WHO response in severe, large-scale emergencies
Honorable Chairperson, Distinguished Delegates,
Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the World Medical Association,
which represents more than 9 million physicians from 112 countries across the globe.
We welcome the WHO report of activities in response to major emergencies worldwide.
As health professionals, we are alarmed not only by the number and severity of
emergencies, but also by the fact that increasingly healthcare workers and facilities are
becoming target of attacks in conflict situations, in flagrant violation of international
humanitarian and human rights law. We urge those involved in ongoing conflicts to
protect civilians as well as healthcare capacities and to respect the ethical obligation of
health personnel to treat all patients, irrespective of who they are. We call for the full
implementation of the Ethical Principles of Health Care in Times of Armed Conflict and
other Emergencies endorsed by civilian and military health-care organizations in 2015.
We urge Governments to fulfil their obligations under international human rights and
humanitarian law. Furthermore, we would like to stress the following:
● The WMA commends those countries that have committed resources for the
urgent establishment of new treatment and isolation centres in the most heavily
burdened countries and regions with new epidemics.
● The WMA calls upon the WHO to facilitate research into the timeliness and
effectiveness of international interventions, so that planning and interventions in future
health emergencies can be better informed.
● The WMA calls on national and local governments to ensure that disaster
medicine training be included in the curricula of university and post-graduate courses in
medicine.
● The WMA commends international solidarity particularly during emergencies.
We urge countries to accept when needed, the presence of experienced foreign
physicians who have demonstrated required qualifications, without any forms of
discrimination.
● The WMA calls on member states to ensure the development and testing of
disaster management plans for clinical care and public health including the ethical basis
for delivering such plans.
Thank you.