Archived: WMA Council Resolution on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Adopted by the 209th Session of the Council, Riga,  April 2018

The duties of physicians are to preserve life and safeguard the health of the patient and to dedicate themselves to the service of humanity.

Concerned about current global discussions on nuclear proliferation and given the catastrophic consequences of these weapons on human health and the environment, the World Medical Association (WMA) and its Constituent Members consider that they have a responsibility to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide.

The WMA is deeply concerned by plans to retain indefinitely and modernize nuclear arsenals; the absence of progress in nuclear disarmament by nuclear-armed states; and the growing threat of nuclear war.

The WMA welcomes the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and joins with others in the international community, including the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and a large majority of UN member states. Consistent with our mission as physicians, the WMA calls on all states to promptly sign, ratify or accede to, and faithfully implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons;

Emphasizing the devastating long-term health consequences, the WMA and its Constituent Members urge governments to work immediately to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.