Recently the World Medical Association (WMA) held its yearly General Assembly in Vancouver, Canada.
The WMA is the umbrella organisation of national medical associations and has a membership of over 100. Many discussions took place, but the workshop at the end on ‘End-of-life medical care’ must have been a surprise for many, certainly for the Dutch Medical Association RDMA, who in the past was regularly blamed for “their cooperation with the legalisation of the Dutch practice of euthanasia”.
The idea now is for the WMA to formulate a Declaration on this issue. The RDMA has agreed with the chief editor of the World Medical Journal (WMA’s official publication) to publish a number of articles in this magazine on medical-ethical issues, in order for WMA member oprganisations to be informed about the Dutch points of view.
(from Medisch Contact, 65 nr 49 – page 2687)