Doctors call for head of World Medical Association to quit as “matter of priority”
BMJ 2009; 338 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2556 (Published 23 June 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2556- Zosia Kmietowicz
- 1London
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 professor of paediatrics at Boston University, on 21 May. It lists numerous reports …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £173 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£38 / $45 / €42 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.