When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
WFC Country Reports
Argentina
From April 25-27, the Argentine National Association of Chiropractors (ANAQ) and the National University of Cordoba (UNC), hosted a seminar at the UNC in Cordoba, organized by the Latin American Federation of Chiropractic (FLAQ) and sponsored by the WFC and Parker College of Chiropractic. The principal instructor was Dr. Ken Thomas of Parker College (extremities and upper cervical spine). Other speakers included Dr. Fabrizio Mancini, president, Parker College.
Australia
The lead story in the March issue of The Australian Chiropractor, the impressive monthly publication of the Chiropractors' Association of Australia (CAA), reports the awarding of Australia's highest civilian honor - The Order of Australia- to CAA member Dr. Dein Vindigni. Dr.Vindigni was recognized for extensive voluntarywork, such as the founding and developmentsince 1987 of Hands on Health Australia (HOHA),which provides a range of voluntary services includingchiropractic for disadvantaged people in theAsian Pacific Region. HOHA now encompassesmore than 20 volunteer programs in Australiaand the Philippines and is supported by the CAAand the Division of Chiropractic at RMITUniversity, Melbourne. For more information orto provide support, visit www.handsonhealth.com.au.
Australia's three accredited chiropractic schools are at RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria; Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales; and Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. An exciting recent development at Murdoch University is the world's first university-based master's program in sports chiropractic. Similar programs are under developments in the U.S. and the U.K.
China
Efforts are well underway to form a national association of chiropractors in China in advance of the WHO Congress on Traditional Medicine, to be held in Beijing Nov. 7-9, 2008. The WFC has been asked by the WHO to organize a Symposium on Manual Methods of Health Care that will be part of the WHO Congress. The congress will then be followed by a WFC/Association of Chiropractic Colleges Education Conference Nov. 10-11. Doctors of chiropractic in Hong Kong (approximately 80) are working with others in Beijing (four), Shengdu (three) and Shanghai (six) to form an association that can lead to the development of chiropractic in Asia's most powerful country.
Do you know of chiropractors in China who may be unknown to the WFC? If so, please forward contact information (name, e-mail address, college and approximate year of graduation) to Lorraine Rhoden at lrhoden@wfc.org. The WFC will then forward this information to Dr. Bruce Vaughan, past-president, Hong Kong Chiropractors' Association and World Federation of Chiropractic, who has been asked to spearhead formation of the new national association in China.
Egypt
From March 28-29, 2008, the Chiropractic Society of Egypt (CSE) hosted the WFC's 3rd Eastern Mediterranean Regional Meeting Seminar, held in Cairo and sponsored by Palmer College of Chiropractic. Speakers were Dr. Tracy Littrell (radiology) and Dr. Ed Feinberg (upper extremities) of Palmer and Palmer West, respectively. Registrants hailed from 10 Eastern Mediterranean countries. The CSE represents Egypt's only three resident DCs - Hany El Bibany, Omar El Sangak and Ahmed Fargal, all of whom are Life University graduates practicing in Cairo. For more information, contact Dr. El Bibany at egyptdc@gmail.com.
New Zealand
The New Zealand College of Chiropractic (NZCC), the country's only chiropractic college, moved to expanded premises in February. Formed in 1994 by the New Zealand Chiropractic Association, the college has steadily grown in recent years, now has 207 students, and can accommodate up to 400 students in its new premises. Dr. Brian Kelly has been NZCC president since 2003 and the college is fully accredited by the CCEA (Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia). For more information, visit www.chiropractic.ac.nz.
South Korea
The Seoul Palace Hotel is the venue for three important events in the first week of June - the WFC Annual Council Meeting (June 4-7), the Asian Pacific Chiropractic Doctors' Federation Annual Meeting (June 6) and a Korean Chiropractors' Association (KCA) seminar featuring concurrent 12-hour programs from Dr. John Downes (lower extremities - sponsored by Life University) and Dr. Mark Charrette (upper extremities - sponsored by Foot Levelers). All proceeds of the seminar go to support the KCA in its continuing hard-fought battle for legislative recognition of the chiropractic profession in Korea. For all details concerning the KCA seminar, including registration and hotel information, visit www.wfc.org and click on "Events."
Turkey
According to Dr. Mustafa Agaoglu, president of the Turkish Chiropractors' Association (TCA), the TCA now has seven members and two Turkish nationals are chiropractic students about to graduate and return to their home country to practice. While there is currently no legislation regulating the practice of chiropractic in Turkey, TCA members have good relations with government and other health professionals. In partnership with the WFC, the TCA has recently completed translation and publication of the WHO Guidelines on Basic Training and Safety in Chiropractic in Turkish. For more information, contact Dr. Agaoglu at spearo35@yahoo.com.