Published 23 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2556
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2556

News

Doctors call for head of World Medical Association to quit as "matter of priority"

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

More than 700 doctors from around the world have called for the Israeli president of the World Medical Association to step down, calling him "unfit for office" and claiming that he has turned a blind eye to the "institutionalised involvement of doctors" in torture in Israel.

In a letter they say that the appointment of Yoram Blachar, president of the Israeli Medical Association since 1995, as president of the World Medical Association last November is "a matter of grave concern." The signatories, who include professors and doctors from 43 countries, say that the appointment "makes a mockery of the principles on which the WMA was founded in 1947, which was a response to egregious abuses by Germany and Japan in World War Two."

The letter, addressed to Edward Hill, chairman of the World Medical Association’s council, and to the council body, was sent by the lead signatory, Alan Meyers, assistant . . . [Full text of this article]

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