SoR-Oct2006
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Handbook of WMA Policies
S-1988-04-2006 World Medical Association
WMA STATEMENT
ON
THE ROLE OF PHYSICIANS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Adopted by the 40th
World Medical Assembly, Vienna, Austria, September 1988
and revised by the 57th
WMA General Assembly, Pilanesberg, South Africa, October 2006
INTRODUCTION
1. The effective practice of medicine increasingly requires that physicians and their pro-
fessional associations turn their attention to environmental issues that have a bearing
on the health of individuals and populations.
2. More than ever, due to diminishing natural resources, these problems relate to the
quality and protection of resources necessary to maintain health and indeed sustain life
itself. In concrete terms, the key environmental issues are as follow:
a. The degradation of the environment, which must be halted as a matter of urgency
so that resources essential to life and health – water and pure air – remain accessi-
ble to all.
b. The ongoing contamination of our reserves of fresh water with hydrocarbons and
heavy metals, along with the contamination of ambient and indoor health by toxic
agents, which have serious medical consequences, especially in the poorest
segments of the globe. Moreover, the greenhouse effect with its concomitant pro-
ven rise in temperature should drive our discussions forward and prepare us for
increasingly serious environmental and public health consequences.
c. The need to control the use of non-renewable resources such as topsoil, which
should constantly be at the forefront of our minds, as should the importance of
safeguarding this vital heritage so that it can be passed on to future generations.
d. The need to mobilise resources beyond national frontiers and to co-ordinate global
solutions for the planet as a whole, so as to formulate a unified strategy to confront
these worldwide medical and economic problems.
e. The foremost objective is to increase awareness of the vital balance between
environmental resources on the one hand, and on the other, biological essentials
for the health of everyone everywhere.
3. Our growing awareness of these issues today has, however, failed to prevent an in-
crease in our societies’ negative impact on the environment, e.g., melting of glaciers
S-1988-04-2006 Pilanesberg
Environmental Issues
and increasing desertification, nor has it halted the over-exploitation of natural re-
sources, e.g. pollution of rivers and seas, air pollution, deforestation and diminishing
arable land. In this context, the migration of people from disadvantaged or developing
countries, together with the emergence of new diseases, exacerbates the lack of socio-
economic policies in many parts of the world. From a medical point of view, growth of
the population and irresponsible destruction of the environment are unacceptable, and
medical organisations throughout the world should redouble their efforts, not only to
speak out about these problems, but also to suggest solutions.
PRINCIPLES
1. In their role as representatives of physicians, medical associations are duty bound to
grapple with these environmental issues. They have a duty to produce analytical stu-
dies that include the identification of problems and current international regulations on
environmental issues, as well as their impact on the field of health.
2. As physicians operate within the framework of ethics and medical deontology, the
environmental regulations advocated should not seek to limit individual autonomy, but
rather to enrich the quality of life for all and to perpetuate life-forms on the planet.
3. The WMA should therefore act as an international platform for research, education,
and advocacy to help further sustain the environment and its potential to promote
health.
4. Thus, when new environmental diseases or syndromes are identified, the WMA should
help coordinate the scientific/medical discussions on the available data and their
implications for human health. It should foster the development of consensus thinking
within medicine, and help to stimulate preventive measures, accurate diagno-sis and
treatment of these emerging disorders.
5. The WMA should therefore provide a framework for the international co-ordination of
medical associations, NGOs, research clinicians, international health organisations,
decision-makers and funding providers, in their examination of the human health ef-
fects of environmental problems, their prevention, remediation and treatment for indi-
viduals and communities.