The American Medical Association's House of Delegates voted to adopt five new policies on emerging healthcare topics on Nov. 13.
The AMA said in a Nov. 13 press release that the decision was made during the voting session of the organization's 2018 interim meeting, which took place Nov. 8-12 in National Harbor, Md.
The five policies are:
- Affirming the medical spectrum of gender. The AMA will oppose any efforts to deny an individual's right to determine their stated sex marker or gender identity and will work with policymakers to ensure they understand the scientific nature of a person's sex.
- Protecting the integrity of public health data collection. The organization will advocate for the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data in federal and state surveys, as it is essential for physicians, public health experts and others to adequately address health disparities and ensure patients' care needs are met.
- Continued opposition to the detention of migrant children. The AMA will continue its stance against the detention and separation of migrant children from their families and oppose any efforts to end or weaken protections in place to limit the duration and conditions under which the federal government can detain children.
- Increasing homeless populations' access to identification cards. The lack of such identification limits homeless individuals' ability to obtain medical care and prevents them from enrolling in Medicaid. The AMA approved a resolution to support legislative and policy changes to streamline and reduce or eliminate the cost of obtaining identification cards.
- Increasing protections and care services for victims of sexual assault. The AMA adopted a policy advocating for more emergency departments nationwide to have access to sexual assault nurse examiners and other trained clinicians to perform medical forensic examinations on victims of sexual assault. The policy also calls for HIV testing and post-exposure prophylaxis to be offered to all survivors within 72 hours of a substantial exposure risk. PEP is an antiretroviral medication that has shown to be effective in preventing an HIV infection if taken within 72 hours.