The BMA is pleased that the Council of the World Medical Association has passed the following resolution: ‘In light of the mounting body of evidence, including the report of 31 August 2022 from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, of medical involvement in severe human rights violations against the Uyghur people and other minorities in China, the WMA asks the Chinese Medical Association to acknowledge the concerns set out in the report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and comply with the 2020 WMA Resolution on human rights violations against Uyghur People in China.’

BMA president, Professor Martin McKee, said “In 2020 the World Medical Association called on its members to condemn actions which constitute fundamental abuses to human rights, such as the acts of forced sterilisation against the Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim minorities in China. We are pleased that the WMA Council has now called on the Chinese Medical Association to acknowledge these human rights concerns and comply with the 2020 WMA resolution. This 2020 resolution called for WMA members, physicians and the international health community to ‘formally condemn the treatment of the Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region and call upon physicians to uphold the guidelines set out in the WMA Declaration of Tokyo and the WMA Resolution on the Responsibility of Physicians in the Documentation and Denunciation of Acts of Torture or Cruel or Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.’”

ENDS

Notes to editors

The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.