The AMA Delegation to the World Medical Association plays a major role in proposing and authoring global policy on many important issues. As the predominant U.S. medical association, the AMA is the only national medical association eligible for membership in the WMA.   

Officers and attendees at the WMA Council meeting in Paris, April 2022.

Founded in 1947, the WMA is a non-governmental, not-for-profit voluntary organization representing 9 million physicians from 115 national medical associations.

Since its founding, the WMA’s scope of agenda has expanded to include social, public health and medical practice concerns.

The AMA’s longstanding WMA membership creates a beneficial synergy and strong working relationship between the two organizations.  

AMA Delegation at the WMA Council meeting in Paris, France, April 2022 (Left to right: Drs. Harmon, Resneck Jr., Bailey, and Barbe).

The AMA sends a delegation (consisting of the three AMA presidents) to the WMA to propose, debate and adopt WMA policies and an advocacy agenda on global health issues.  

Several AMA delegates have been elected by WMA members to high-level leadership positions within the WMA, including WMA president and council chair. 

AMA's three presidents—immediate past president Susan R. Bailey, MD, president Gerald E. Harmon, MD, and president-elect Jack Resneck Jr., MD, represented the AMA at the recent Council meeting.

David O. Barbe, MD, MHA, will complete his three-year term on the WMA leadership team in October 2022.

WMA policies contribute to an international policy database that influences global health policy. The AMA’s large and well-developed policy base serves as a starting point for many of the WMA’s policies, both ethical and social. Explore WMA policies or learn how to join as an associate member.

Recent AMA-led policies at the WMA include:

• Augmented intelligence
• Hypertension and cardiovascular disease
• Sports medicine

Learn more about the AMA’s international activities under the direction of the AMA Office of International Relations.