FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
18 September 2017
World Medical Association marks 70th anniversary on Medical Ethics Day
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) invites all doctors to join it, and the World Medical Association (WMA), in celebrating the 70th anniversary of the WMA, which coincides with Medical Ethics Day.
The WMA was founded on 18 September 1947, just one month after the war crimes trials of German doctors in Nuremberg. After the experiences of World War II, representatives of the medical profession decided it was necessary to establish a new international medical organization to develop medical ethics and to co-operate globally.
The SAMA has been a member of the WMA since its inception, and has played a role in the major activities of Association. SAMA has also been involved in the development of many ethical guidelines, including the seminal Declaration of Helsinki, and the recently adopted Declaration of Taipei in Health Databases and Biobanks.
We, along with all our colleagues in private and public practice, take this opportunity to wish the WMA well during this significant time in its history, and pledge our continued support to the organization as it navigates the next 70 years.
Notes to Editors
About SAMA
The South African Medical Association was formally constituted on 21 May 1998 as a unification of a variety of doctors’ groups that had represented a diversity of interests. SAMA is a non-statutory, professional association for public, and private sector medical practitioners. SAMA is a voluntary membership association, existing to serve the best interests and needs of its members in any and all healthcare related matters.
Contact:
Head of PR & Communications
Dr Simonia Magardie
082 905 8505
Email: simoniam@samedical.org
Spokesperson
Chairperson: SAMA
Dr Mzukisi Grootboom
072 633 1114
Email: mzukisi@mweb.co.za
Spokesperson 2
Vice-Chairperson: SAMA
Prof Mark Sonderup
083 626 1909
Email: msonderup@samedical.co.za