Steinunn Þórðardóttir elected president of World Medical Association

Steinunn Þórðardóttir, chair of the Icelandic Medical Association, has been elected the next president of the World Medical Association (WMA), mbl.is reported. She received 97.81% of the vote at the WMA’s annual meeting in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and will take office in October 2027.

She will be the second Icelander to hold the position. Jón Snædal served as president from 2007 to 2008.

Steinunn said the role was exciting and described the WMA as an organisation with a strong voice. She will serve three years on its board: first as president-elect, then as president, and finally as outgoing president.

During her presidential year, she said, she will travel internationally to meet medical associations, international organisations and health ministers to discuss the WMA’s policies and promote the voice of doctors.

The WMA was founded in Paris in 1947, after the Second World War. Iceland was one of its 27 founding countries, Steinunn said.

The meeting also adopted the Rotterdam Declaration on neutrality in healthcare, in response to attacks on hospitals and health workers. Steinunn said the declaration clearly states that neutrality must be respected, adding that it was significant for doctors from around the world to approve it unanimously.