WMA: Violence Against Doctors Impedes Advancement Of Patient-Centered Care

Dr. Osahon Enabulele, the Presi­dent of the World Medical Associa­tion (WMA), has voiced his displeasure regarding the recent patterns of violence against doctors as well as burnout driven by work overload and obscene working conditions, saying that these trends under­mine attempts made to advance the idea of patient-centered care.

Enabulele, therefore advocated the need to humanise the whole healthcare value chain in the patient care process.

The WMA President while deliver­ing a talk in Geneva, Switzerland, at the 10th Global Patients’ Congress organ­ised by the International Alliance of Patients’ Organisation (IAPO), stated that the patient-physician relationship was as old as mankind and the origin of medicine.

He further explained that the WMA has been a strong proponent of im­proved patient-physician relationships through a patient-centered care approach.

He affirmed that the World Medical Association has been a frontline advo­cate of patient-centered care through its various policies and declarations, including the Declaration of Geneva, the International Code of Medical Ethics, and the Declaration of Lisbon, amongst oth­er efforts of the Association.

He, however, regretted that recent trends of violence against doctors, and burnt-out resulting from work overload and indecent working conditions, could potentially attenuate efforts at promot­ing the concept of patient-centered care.

Read Also: WMA President Urges Humane, Patient-centred Medical Practice

Reiterating that patient safety can­not be attained without the safety of the health workforce, Enabulele called for a holistic appraisal of the challeng­es militating against the practice of patient-centered care, including resolv­ing issues pertaining to the well-being, autonomy, safety, decent workplace and working conditions of physicians.

Enabulele has also physically witnessed the court trial of leaders of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA) and solidar­ised with them over their unwarranted persecution by the Turkish Govern­ment.

Enabulele was accompanied by a delegation of TMA led by its President, Prof. Sebnem Korur Fincanci, the repre­sentative of the Standing Committee of European Doctors, Dr. Ole Johan Bakke, and other stakeholders.

Enabulele expressed the WMA’s great worry over the continued harassment, intimidation and persecution of leaders of TMA by the Turkish Government, simply for speaking up on issues that concern public health and the well-being of the people, and for offering healthcare to injured victims of conflicts.

While denouncing the deployment of bromidic strong-arm tactics to repress the TMA, Enabulele asserted that the at­tempts to dismiss and imprison leaders of the TMA and outlaw the TMA were clear assaults on their fundamental human rights, particularly their freedom of ex­pression and right to associate, as well as assaults on their professional autonomy, clinical independence, and professional self-regulation.

Enabulele further stated that, if left unchecked, the assaults and repres­sive efforts of the government will have grave implications for healthcare delivery in Turkey with great harm to patients, erosion of medical profes­sionalism and societal trust, as well as compromise of the patient-physician relationship.

Therefore, he urged the Turkish government to beat a retreat from its current adversarial approach and em­brace a collaborative, constructive, and harmonious strategy, with improved healthcare delivery and health out­comes, and improved medical profes­sionalism based on ethical values, as common interests.