The preamble of medical professional ethics — and why it matters more than ever today.
The Geneva Declaration of the World Medical Association is the modern successor to the Hippocratic Oath and forms the ethical foundation of the medical profession worldwide. It was adopted in 1948 and last comprehensively revised in 2017.
As a member of the medical profession, I solemnly pledge,
to dedicate my life to the service of humanity;
the health and well-being of my patient will be my first consideration;
I will respect the autonomy and dignity of my patient;
I will maintain the utmost respect for human life;
I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing, or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient;
I will respect the secrets that are confided in me, even after the patient has died;
I will practise my profession with conscience and dignity and in accordance with good medical practice;
I will foster the honour and noble traditions of the medical profession;
I will give to my teachers, colleagues, and students the respect and gratitude that is their due;
I will share my medical knowledge for the benefit of the patient and the advancement of healthcare;
I will attend to my own health, well-being, and abilities in order to provide care of the highest standard;
I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat;
I make these promises solemnly, freely, and upon my honour.
When doctors during the Covid pandemic supported individual health decisions of their patients, whether through mask exemptions for medical reasons or through restraint regarding vaccinations with insufficiently researched long-term effects, they were not acting against the law, but in accordance with their oath.
This sentence is not mere lip service. It is the foundation of medical ethics. When a doctor recognises that a blanket measure harms an individual patient, for example a mask for an asthmatic or a particular vaccination for an immunosuppressed patient, the Declaration demands that the doctor offer this patient an individual solution. Not as a favour, but as an ethical duty.
The Geneva Declaration enshrines the right to patient autonomy. Every patient has the right to refuse medical measures, and doctors have the duty to respect this right. When the state undermines this autonomy through mandates and sanctions, doctors face a fundamental crisis of conscience: should they obey the state or serve their patient?
Perhaps the most significant passage of the Declaration: “I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat.” This sentence was included after the experiences of the Second World War, when doctors invoked orders and laws to justify unethical conduct. The Declaration explicitly demands that doctors place human rights above state directives.
The Geneva Declaration demands of doctors exactly what they are being convicted for today: placing the individual patient above blanket directives. The persecuted doctors did not violate their oath. They upheld it.
The Geneva Declaration was formulated in 1948 as a direct response to the Nuremberg Doctors’ Trial. It was intended to ensure that doctors could never again say: “I was only following orders.” The irony of today’s situation is hard to overlook: doctors who refused to enforce blanket measures without individual assessment, who did exactly what the Declaration demands, are being criminally prosecuted.
The doctors we document on this website faced an impossible choice: obey the state or follow their conscience. The Geneva Declaration gives an unequivocal answer. That the state responds to this answer with prison sentences is the real scandal, and the reason this documentation exists.