[2] Unlike the case of the Oath of Hippocrates, the World Medical Association calls the statement a "pledge".
[citation needed] A study committee was appointed to prepare a "Charter of Medicine" which could be adopted as an oath or promise that every doctor in the world would make upon receiving their medical degree or diploma.
[7] Age, disability, gender, and sexual orientation have been added as factors that must not interfere with a doctor's duty to a patient; some rephrasing of existing elements has occurred.
The Declaration of Geneva was originally adopted by the WMA General Assembly in 1948[9] right after one year of the formation of World Medical Association,[10] and has undergone a series of amendments throughout the years, until 2006 and the latest amendments, made at the 68th WMA General Assembly in Chicago in October 2017, make several significant additions.
The newly revised Declaration of Geneva, released in October 2017, contains some modifications in terms of words throughout but also three entirely new points:[12] The new Geneva Declaration version acknowledges respect for human rights of patients, the value of sharing knowledge with the community and profession, and the right and obligation of physicians to care for themselves, and to maintain their abilities for the benefit of society.