Ethical Principles of Health Care in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Emergencies

Civilian and military health-care organisations – the World Medical Association (WMA), the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM), the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), and the International Federation of Medical Students organisations (IFMSA) – are partners of the ICRC project Health Care in Danger Project and as such have been working together, under the leadership of the ICRC, with the shared aim to address the distressing escalation of violence towards health-care professionals and facilities worldwide.

The civilian and military health-care organisations recall resolutely the international human right and humanitarian standards, as well as the principles of humanity and neutrality, these norms forming the core values upon which they operate and pursue their mission.

The civilian and military health-care organisations together with the ICRC adopted formally in June 2015 the Ethical Principles of Health Care in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Emergencies. These principles constitute the first ever-endorsed global ethical standards and reflect the strong determination of its signatories to place ethics at the centre of action addressing the protection of health delivery.

Action plan

With this in mind, the civilian and military health-care organisations we represent commit to:

• Advertise the adopted Ethical Principles of Health Care in Times of Armed Conflict and Other Emergencies and raise awareness on its strategic importance in bringing together key global health-care actors behind a joint common goal;
• Inform and promote the use of the Principles within their membership and other relevant actors at regional and national level;
• Where appropriate, incorporate references to the Principles in their political statements, educational material and other relevant resources;
• More generally, continue working together and with the ICRC in fostering the ultimate benefit of protecting health-care personnel and facilities for the sake of the injured and for the preservation of life, not only during armed conflicts situations and in emergencies but in any situation.