Announcing The Lancet Commission on Medicine and the Holocaust:  Historical Evidence, Implications for Today, Teaching for Tomorrow

In late 2020, Israeli and German scholars sent a proposal for a commission on Medicine and the Holocaust to Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet. This was accepted and resulted in the announcement of a new Lancet Commission on Medicine and the Holocaust: Historical Evidence, Implications for Today, Teaching for Tomorrow [1] on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day January 27, 2021. The title of the Commission (which was later renamed to explicitly include Nazism as a topic) describes its goals:

 

1. Historical Evidence: Identify, analyze and describe the various areas of historical evidence regarding medicine, Nazism and the Holocaust.

 

2. Implications for Today: Describe the specific implications of Medicine, Nazism and the Holocaust for medicine today, including medical professionalism and medical ethics.

 

3. Teaching for Tomorrow: Identify, describe, and implement effective educational approaches to include historical insights from Medicine, Nazism and the Holocaust in Health Professions curricula.

 

The Commission members form an interdisciplinary, inclusive and international group of scholars of the history of medicine, practicing physicians, bioethicists and medical educators. Its work is supported by an international Student Advisory Council.

 

[1] Roelcke V, Hildebrandt S, Reis S. Announcing the Lancet Commission on Medicine and the Holocaust: Historical Evidence, Implications for Today, Teaching for Tomorrow. Lancet. 2021 Mar 6;397(10277):862-864. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00157-4. Epub 2021 Jan 26. PMID: 33513379.