Declaration of Helsinki

The Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) is the World Medical Association’s (WMA) best-known policy statement. The first version was adopted in 1964 and has been amended seven times since, most recently at the General Assembly in October 2024. The current (2024) version is the only official one; all previous versions* have been replaced and should not be used or cited except for historical purposes. The WMA would like to thank all those who submitted comments and suggestions for the most recent revision of the DoH.

In 2014, the WMA produced a celebratory publication to mark the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Helsinki. “The World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: 1964-2014 50 Years of Evolution of Medical Research Ethics” can be ordered online here.

Since 2016, the Declaration of Taipei on Ethical Considerations regarding Health Databases and Biobanks has complemented the Declaration of Helsinki.

Background

The World Medical Association developed the Declaration of Helsinki as a statement of ethical principles for medical research involving human participants following the atrocities by physicians conducting unethical medical research during the Second World War. Since the World Medical Association first adopted the Declaration of Helsinki in 1964, researchers, ethics review committees, and governments around the world now rely on the document’s high-level enduring principles to guide fundamental ethical considerations and decision-making.

To ensure the Declaration of Helsinki, or DoH, continues to fulfill its purpose and to address evolving ethical challenges across the global research community, the World Medical Association invites periodic reviews of the document. Given the document was last updated in 2013, the World Medical Association appointed a workgroup to facilitate the last revision of the Declaration of Helsinki.

The revision process was designed to be collaborative, transparent, and inclusive. The workgroup’s efforts were informed by regional and topical meetings spread over two and a half years, where issues were discussed by local and international experts and engaged audiences with diverse opinions. Resulting edits to the principles proposed by the workgroup were ultimately circulated worldwide for two public comment periods for feedback.

*Currently the DoH is available in English only. The versions in the other WMA official languages (Spanish and French) are being refined and will be available as soon as this process is accomplished. We invite the members to share their translations in other languages (other than the three WMA official languages) so they can be listed here.

*Previous archived versions below are for research and information purpose only, use the updated version as reference.

• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1964
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1975
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1983
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1989
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 1996
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 2000
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 2004
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 2008
• Declaration of Helsinki – Version 2013