On the eve of the resumed meeting of the World Health Assembly next week, the World Medical Association has again called for representatives from Taiwan to be granted observer status.
The spreading of fake news and discredited science by world leaders has led to many people dying and others being exposed to Covid-19, according to the departing President of the World Medical Association. In his valedictory address to this week’s WMA’s annual Assembly, Dr. Miguel Jorge, a psychiatrist from Brazil, mentioned both the Presidents of Brazil and the United States as contributing to more people being exposed to the virus and more deaths.
In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Medical Association’s annual General Assembly this year will be a virtual meeting from October 26 to 30.
The importance of a safe working environment for healthcare staff as a requirement for ensuring patient safety has been highlighted by the World Medical Association to mark World Patient Safety Day on Thursday, September 17.
In a letter to WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the leaders of the World Medical Association, WMA say that the WHO’s failure to listen to early warnings from Taiwan about the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with its decision to ignore Taiwan during much of the SARS crisis, were errors that led to the world paying a high price.
The World Medical Association has joined other health professions in appealing to the G20 heads of state and governments to take coordinated action to ensure the security of the supply chain of personal protective equipment (PPE) for all health professionals and healthcare workers on the frontline against COVID-19.
Leaders of the World Medical Association have described as ‘deplorable’ the fact that even in the world’s most affluent countries, health care professionals are having to deal with the coronavirus pandemic with insufficient personal protection. And they say that when the pandemic ends, there must be a political investigation into the availability and effectiveness of supply chains.
The World Medical Association has reaffirmed its long-standing policy of opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
In a new policy statement, the WMA calls on all national governments to reduce the affordability of added sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages through a tax on sugar. The tax revenue collected should then be used for health promotion programs aimed at reducing obesity and non-communicable diseases.
The World Medical Association has called on the President of Honduras to bring to an immediate end the use of violence against protesters striking against the government’s health and education reforms.