World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Participants

The 2024 revision of the Declaration of Helsinki was adopted by the World Medical Association (WMA) General Assembly in Helsinki, following a 30-month review process. This key global framework for medical research involving human participants was updated to reflect the realities of 2024. Released 60 years after the original version was adopted in Helsinki, the 2024 revision replaced the previous version adopted in Fortaleza, Brazil, in October 2013. It serves as a guiding document, shaping both national and international research ethics guidelines. Substantive changes can be categorised in two areas:

• Participant-centered inclusion, respect and protection
• Research beneficence and value, including the pursuit of “individual and public health”, upholding scientific rigor and integrity, and considered distribution of benefits, risks and burdens.

The 2024 revision of the Declaration of Helsinki replaces ‘subjects’ with ‘participants’ throughout out of respect for the rights, agency, and importance of those individuals.