WMA reviews consent and data governance in Taipei Declaration revision

The World Medical Association (WMA) is revising its Taipei Declaration, which provides ethical guidance for collecting, storing and using health data and biological material. Experts from several countries attended the fourth open meeting in the revision process in Oslo on 14–16 September. The Norwegian Medical Association participates in the working group. The declaration was adopted in 2002 and last revised in 2016.

Discussions addressed the declaration’s scope and how to balance informed consent, individual rights, public interests and trust in authorities. Norwegian representatives highlighted Nordic systems that also use other ethical and legal safeguards to support health-data use. Kari Milch Agledahl, deputy chair of the Norwegian Council for Medical Ethics, argued that the framework should recognize considerations beyond consent, including the interests of vulnerable people and those lacking capacity to consent.

The agenda also covered health registries, artificial intelligence, the European Health Data Space and data use during crises. For clinicians and researchers, the revision concerns the ethical framework governing databases and biobanks rather than newly adopted requirements. The report describes ongoing deliberations, not finalized recommendations or changes to law. Revision work began in 2025 and is scheduled to conclude in autumn 2027.