The World Assembly,
Acknowledging several extant resolutions on specific issues relating to healthcare,
Lamenting that no resolution exists to ensure that member states ensure general medical standards,
Noting that patients are often misled into believing that an unqualified person is a qualified medical practitioner,
Observing that many medical drugs and devices are advertised and prescribed which are unsafe or ineffective,
Declaring that good-quality and ethical medical care is a basic necessity and a civil right, and
Agreeing that medical standards are a subject on which significant variation exists between member states, and that the imposition of a single set of standards across the World Assembly is not practical,
hereby:
Defines, for the purposes of this resolution:
- a "medical practitioner" as a person who purports to practice medicine or otherwise treat sapient species with a view to improving their health,
- a "medical institution" as an institution whose primary purpose is to impart medical care to patients, including but not limited to hospitals, and
- a "medical drug" as any substance advertised to treat or alleviate the symptoms of any illness, disease or disorder, or to improve the health of a sapient species, and a "medical device" as a device advertised for such purposes;
Directs each member state to designate an authority or authorities (hereinafter a "medical authority"), staffed by impartial medical experts, with the following powers:
- certification of medical practitioners who have demonstrated sufficient knowledge and skill of medicine,
- regulation of all medical institutions, to ensure that sufficient facilities are available to safely treat patients, and
- approval of medical drugs and devices, to ensure that they are of good quality and that the contents thereof and any known side effects, contra-indications, allergens, etc. are disclosed to any person to whom they are sold, dispensed, distributed or prescribed;
Mandates medical authorities to act in good faith for the improvement of public health, and not in an arbitrary, discriminatory or routine manner;
Prohibits any person from wilfully misrepresenting themselves as a medical practitioner certified by the medical authority;
Requires all medical practitioners, whether certified or not, to act in the interests of the overall health of their patients while imparting medical care, and not to engage in treatment which they know to be insufficient, excessive, or ineffective, or upon which they have insufficient knowledge, except with the informed consent of the patient, or when providing sufficient treatment is inconsistent with the responsible management of communal resources;
Bans any person from wilfully misrepresenting a medical drug or device as being approved by the medical authority;
Forbids any person from manufacturing, marketing, selling, distributing or prescribing a medical drug or device which they know is likely to be ineffective or harmful, except in the context of clearly disclosed and consensual scientific research, unless the drug or device is prescribed by a medical practitioner with the informed consent of the patient when no better option is available;
Urges member states to establish distinctive titles, styles, insignia or other words or symbols for the exclusive use of (i) certified medical practitioners and (ii) approved medical drugs or devices, in order to clearly distinguish certified medical practitioners and approved drugs or devices from others;
Encourages medical authorities to liaise with the World Health Authority and with their counterparts in other nations, to gain the benefits of scientific advancements;
Declares that the provisions of this resolution shall apply to all systems of medicine, including both traditional and modern systems; and
Clarifies that nothing in this resolution shall prohibit uncertified medical practitioners from practicing medicine, or unapproved medical drugs or devices from being manufactured, sold, distributed or prescribed, but reserves to member states the right to enact such prohibitions.
