The medical profession and human rights: handbook for a changing agenda
2001
Medical ethics and human rights issues now command much more attention in the medical profession and society. This is why the British Medical Association decided to take a look at the complex interface between medical practitioners and possible abuses of human rights. It has also examined the links between doctors’ ethical duties and concepts of human rights.
Taking examples from all over the world, this report ranges across a variety of issues, including abuse of institutionalised patients, research involving humans, trade in human organs, doctors and asylum seekers, prison doctors, forensic doctors, the rehabilitation of torture victims, and medical involvement in armed conflicts and weapons research. The doctors who have contributed to the book are concerned with the practical ethical issues such situations pose for medical personnel and guidance as to how they might deal with them.
The concluding part examines practical steps to help ensure that health personnel are aware of these issues and are supported in their efforts to adhere to the ever higher standards of human rights observance which the modern world expects.
The full text of the recommendations - summarised in Chapter 20 - is available online. Read more here.
Purchase the handbook from Hammicks BMA Medical Bookshop.