The Executive Council of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) held its annual meeting this summer in Hong Kong July 29-31. One reason for the meeting was to support the Hong Kong Chiropractors' Association (HKCA) in its drive for the first chiropractic legislation in Asia. A draft bill is expected to become law within the next six months.
While in Hong Kong, new WFC officers were elected for three-year terms: President, Dr. Christoph Diem of Switzerland; Vice President, Dr. John Sweaney of Australia; and Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. Louis Sportelli of the United States.
Following the Hong Kong meetings, WFC President Dr. Christoph Diem and Mr. Chapman-Smith traveled to Japan at the invitation of the Chiropractic Council of Japan (CCJ) for a series of meetings with government officials and chiropractors.
Hong Kong Meetings
The HKCA President Dr. Bruce Vaughan (a Palmer graduate), and Vice President Dr. Ted Lee (Anglo-European College of Chiropractic), together with WFC leaders, attracted media attention during their several meetings with key government officials, legislative councilors, and medical leaders.
One meeting included a two-hour formal luncheon at the Hong Kong Hilton hosted by Hong Kong's Secretary of Health, Elizabeth Wong.
"This created a clear impact," says WFC President Dr. Diem, "with the six senior Hong Kong Ministry people present."
The ministers were able to ask questions of chiropractic leaders from Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United States; the DCs spoke of the many benefits of having a licensed chiropractic profession, and the details of legislation in their respective countries.
At the WFC Council meeting, major items for discussion included several projects now under way with the World Health Organization (WHO):
-- A review of chiropractic legislation worldwide and development by WFC and WHO of model legislation that WHO will use to advise member countries seeking advice on recognition of chiropractic.
"You do not hear much about WHO in North America," says Mr. David Chapman-Smith, WFC secretary-general, "but it is an extremely important source of policy and information in countries such as Hong Kong and Japan." WFC works with the WHO to make sure that good information giving a positive image of chiropractic is distributed through official WHO channels. Recently, the Occupational Health Division of WHO has sent thousands of notices of the London Congress to occupational health centers worldwide, and the WHO Traditional Medicine Division has sent a fact sheet on chiropractic in English, French, and Spanish to all third-world countries.
Japan Meetings
The focal point of the visit of Dr. Diem and Mr. Chapman-Smith to Japan was a meeting in Tokyo with Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Mr. Hiroyuki Sonoda. This was to discuss the Miura Report, a Japanese government document compiled by orthopedic surgeons which is biased, uninformed, and highly critical of chiropractic. (See "Japanese Government Study Condemns Chiropractic" in the Nov. 22, 1991 issue).
Chiropractic leaders present, including Dr. Mitsumasa Endo and Dr. Kazuyoshi Takeyachi, joint chairmen of the Chiropractic Council of Japan, and Dr. Diem and Mr. Chapman-Smith, presented a detailed, written rebuttal prepared by the CCJ and the WFC during the past year.
A major goal of the WFC is to help the chiropractors of Japan unite and gain recognition. Approximately 9,000 individuals practice chiropractic in Japan, but only 52 have graduated from accredited colleges outside the country, and many have as little as six months formal training in Japan. This is a history of several competing national associations whose membership, with the exception of a few DCs, are comprised of locally-trained practitioners.
The present move to unity is being led by the CCJ, formed in 1991, and representing all national associations in Japan (see "National Chiropractic Unity: A Japanese Perspective" in the Feb. 28, 1992 issue). Its leaders, who deserve high praise, are Dr. Endo, a 1978 Palmer College graduate, and Dr. Takeyachi, a 1968 National College graduate.
The situation in Japan is complicated because many of the locally trained chiropractors hold prior qualifications in fields of health care recognized by the Japanese government but not in the Western World, such as judo bone setting, acupuncture and moxibustion, and pressure therapy.
Editor's Note: For more information on the WFC's Chiropractic Congress in London, May 27-29, contact:
Ms. Joan Brydon
World Federation of Chiropractic
3080 Yonge Street, Suite 3002
Toronto, Ontario M4N 3N1 Canada
TEL: 416-484-9978
FAX: 416-484-9665
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