WHO Bulletin

1 Declaration of HelsinkiWorld Medical Association Declaration of HelsinkiEthical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human SubjectsAdopted by the 18th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, June 1964; amended by the 29th WMA General Assembly, Tokyo,Japan, October 1975; 35th WMA General Assembly, Venice, Italy, October 1983; 41st WMA General Assembly, Hong Kong,September 1989; 48th WMA General Assembly, Somerset West, Republic of South Africa, October 1996, and the 52nd WMAG eneral Assembly, Edinburgh, Scotland, October The world Medical Association has developed theDeclaration of Helsinki as a statement of ethical principles toprovide guidance to physicians and other participants inmedical research involving human subjects. Medical researchinvolving human subjects includes research on identifiablehuman material or identifiable It is the duty of the physician to promote and safeguardthe health of the people.

2 The physician s knowledge andconscience are dedicated to the fulfillment of this The Declaration of Geneva of the world MedicalAssociation binds the physician with the words, The healthof my patient will be my first consideration, and theInternational Code of Medical Ethics declares that, Aphysician shall act only in the patient s interest whenproviding medical care which might have the effect ofweakening the physical and mental condition of the patient. 4. Medical progress is based on research which ultimatelymust rest in part on experimentation involving In medical research on human subjects, considerationsrelated to the well-being of the human subject should takeprecedence over the interests of science and The primary purpose of medical research involvinghuman subjects is to improve prophylactic, diagnostic andtherapeutic procedures and the understanding of theaetiology and pathogenesis of disease.

3 Even the best provenprophylactic, diagnostic, and therapeutic methods mustcontinuously be challenged through research for theireffectiveness, efficiency, accessibility and In current medical practice and in medical research,most prophylactic, diagnostic and therapeutic proceduresinvolve risks and Medical research is subject to ethical standards thatpromote respect for all human beings and protect theirhealth and rights. Some research populations are vulnerableand need special protection. The particular needs of theeconomically and medically disadvantaged must be recog-nized. Special attention is also required for those who cannotgive or refuse consent for themselves, for those who may besubject to giving consent under duress, for those who willnot benefit personally from the research and for those forwhom the research is combined with Research Investigators should be aware of the ethical,legal and regulatory requirements for research on humansubjects in their own countries as well as applicableinternational requirements.

4 No national ethical, legal orregulatory requirement should be allowed to reduce oreliminate any of the protections for human subjects set forthin this principles for all medicalresearch10. It is the duty of the physician in medical research toprotect the life, health , privacy, and dignity of the Medical research involving human subjects mustconform to generally accepted scientific principles, be basedon a thorough knowledge of the scientific literature, otherrelevant sources of information, and on adequate laboratoryand, where appropriate, animal Appropriate caution must be exercised in the conductof research which may affect the environment, and thewelfare of animals used for research must be The design and performance of each experimentalprocedure involving human subjects should be clearlyformulated in an experimental protocol.

5 This protocolshould be submitted for consideration, comment, guidance,and where appropriate, approval to a specially appointedethical review committee, which must be independent of theinvestigator, the sponsor or any other kind of undueinfluence. This independent committee should be inconformity with the laws and regulations of the country inwhich the research experiment is performed. The committeehas the right to monitor ongoing trials. The researcher hasthe obligation to provide monitoring information to thecommittee, especially any serious adverse events. Theresearcher should also submit to the committee, for review,information regarding funding, sponsors, institutionalaffiliations, other potential conflicts of interest and incen-tives for The research protocol should always contain astatement of the ethical considerations involved and shouldindicate that there is compliance with the principlesenunciated in this Medical research involving human subjects should beconducted only by scientifically qualified persons and underthe supervision of a clinically competent medical responsibility for the human subject must always restwith a medically qualified person and never rest on the373 Bulletin of the world health organization , 2001,79(4)

6 # world health organization 2001subject of the research, even though the subject has Every medical research project involving humansubjects should be preceded by careful assessment ofpredictable risks and burdens in comparison with foresee-able benefits to the subject or to others. This does notpreclude the participation of healthy volunteers in medicalresearch. The design of all studies should be Physicians should abstain from engaging in researchprojects involving human subjects unless they are confidentthat the risks involved have been adequately assessed and canbe satisfactorily managed. Physicians should cease anyinvestigation if the risks are found to outweigh the potentialbenefits or if there is conclusive proof of positive andbeneficial Medical research involving human subjects should onlybe conducted if the importance of the objective outweighsthe inherent risks and burdens to the subject.

7 This isespecially important when the human subjects are Medical research is only justified if there is a reasonablelikelihood that the populations in which the research iscarried out stand to benefit from the results of the The subjects must be volunteers and informedparticipants in the research The right of research subjects to safeguard theirintegrity must always be respected. Every precaution shouldbe taken to respect the privacy of the subject, theconfidentiality of the patient s information and to minimizethe impact of the study on the subject s physical and mentalintegrity and on the personality of the In any research on human beings, each potential subjectmust be adequately informed of the aims, methods, sourcesof funding, any possible conflicts of interest, institutionalaffiliations of the researcher, the anticipated benefits andpotential risks of the study and the discomfort it may subject should be informed of the right to abstain fromparticipation in the study or to withdraw consent toparticipate at any time without reprisal.

8 After ensuring thatthe subject has understood the information, the physicianshould then obtain the subject s freely-given informedconsent, preferably in writing. If the consent cannot beobtained in writing, the non-written consent must beformally documented and When obtaining informed consent for the researchproject the physician should be particularly cautious if thesubject is in a dependent relationship with the physician ormay consent under duress. In that case the informed consentshould be obtained by a well-informed physician who is notengaged in the investigation and who is completelyindependent of this For a research subject who is legally incompetent,physically or mentally incapable of giving consent or is alegally incompetent minor, the investigator must obtaininformed consent from the legally authorized representativein accordance with applicable law.

9 These groups should notbe included in research unless the research is necessary topromote the health of the population represented and thisresearch cannot instead be performed on legally When a subject deemed legally incompetent, such as aminor child, is able to give assent to decisions aboutparticipation in research, the investigator must obtain thatassent in addition to the consent of the legally Research on individuals from whom it is not possible toobtain consent, including proxy or advance consent, shouldbe done only if the physical/mental condition that preventsobtaining informed consent is a necessary characteristic ofthe research population. The specific reasons for involvingresearch subjects with a condition that renders them unableto give informed consent should be stated in the experi-mental protocol for consideration and approval of the reviewcommittee.

10 The protocol should state that consent to remainin the research should be obtained as soon as possible fromthe individual or a legally authorized Both authors and publishers have ethical obligations. Inpublication of the results of research, the investigators areobliged to preserve the accuracy of the results. Negative aswell as positive results should be published or otherwisepublicly available. Sources of funding, institutional affilia-tions and any possible conflicts of interest should be declaredin the publication. Reports of experimentation not inaccordance with the principles laid down in this Declarationshould not be accepted for principles for medicalresearch combined with medical care28. The physician may combine medical research withmedical care, only to the extent that the research is justifiedby its potential prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic medical research is combined with medical care,additional standards apply to protect the patients who areresearch The benefits, risks, burdens and effectiveness of a newmethod should be tested against those of the best currentprophylactic, diagnostic, and therapeutic methods.