Læknablaðið : fylgirit - 01.09.1977, Page 33

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to do so by law or unless it becomes necessary in order to pro-
tect the welfare of the individual or of the community.
Section 10 The honored ideals of the medical profession imply
that the responsibilities of the physician extend not only to the
individual, but also to society where these responsibilities de-
serve his interest and participation in activities- which have the
purpose of improving both health and the well-being of the indi-
vidual and the community.
ETHICAL CODE OF THE COMMONWEALTH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
The following Ethical Code of the Commonwealth Medical
Association was approved at its meeting in Jamaica in 1974:
"1. The doctor's primary loyality is to his patient.
2. His vocation and skill shall be devoted to the amelioration
of symptoms, the cure of illness, and the promotion of health.
3. He shall respect human life and studiously avoid doing it
injury.
4. He shall share all the knowledge he may have gained with his
colleagues without any reserve.
5. He shall respect the confidence of his patient as he would
his own.
6. He shall by precept and example maintain the dignity and
ideals of the profession and permit no bias based on race,
creed, or socioeconomic factors to affect his professional
practice."
(N.B. The word "patient" used in this Code embraces the prisoner
or other persons whom a doctor might be called upon to attend at
another's bidding.)
BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
MEDICAL ETHICS
The following resolutions on "Medical Secrecy" and on "computers
in Medicine" were adopted by the World Medical Associution in 1973:
a) Medical Secrecy:
"WHEKEAS: The privacy of the individual is highly pr'ir’.ed in most
societies and widely accepted as a civil right; and
"WHEREAS: the confidential nature of the patient-doc>r relation-
ship is regarded by most doctors as extremely import a: t and is
taken for granted by the patient; and
"WHEREAS: there is an increasing tendency towards ar: intrusion on
•:ieaiual secrecy:,