WFC Quarterly World Report

New President Elected at June Council Meeting

Dr. Anthony Metcalfe was elected new president of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) at the organization's June council meeting in Singapore. Dr. Metcalfe replaces Paul Carey, DC, who continues to serve the WFC as immediate past president and co-chair of the Task Force on Identity. Dr. Metcalfe is a graduate of the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC) in Bournemouth, England, and maintains a practice in London. He is a past president of the European Chiropractors' Union, and currently serves as chairman of the board of governors of the AECC.

Dr. Metcalfe is joined by Dr. Gerard Clum (North American Region), 1^st vice president; Dr. Stathis Papadopoulos (Eastern Med. Region), 2^nd vice president; and Dr. J. Michael Flynn (North American Region), secretary-treasurer, on the four-member WFC Executive Committee. Other members of the current WFC Council are: Dr. Chris Neethling (African Region); Dr. Bruce Vaughan (Asian Region); Dr. Ricardo Fujikawa (Latin American Region); Dr. Deborah Kopansky-Giles (North American Region); Dr. Michael Pedigo (North American Region); Dr. Kerwin Winkler (North American Region); and Dr. Dennis Richards (Pacific Region). David Chapman-Smith is WFC secretary-general.

Brazil

In August/September, the first class of students at each of Brazil's two five-year university-based chiropractic schools will graduate - at Feevale University Centre, Novo Hamburgo (eight students) and the University Anhembi-Morumbi (20 students). This will give Brazil approximately 70 chiropractors, but thereafter, classes will be larger and there will be an additional 80 chiropractors per semester. They are much needed in a country that has a population of approximately 170 million. Congratulations are due to the Association of Brazilian Chiropractors (ABQ) and its pioneering presidents - Dr. Sira Borges, Dr. Eduardo Bracher, and current president Dr. Ricardo Fujikawa - for their continuing hard work and successes in establishing the profession.

In national elections in July, four doctors of chiropractic were elected to the Federal Parliament - Dr. Ruby Dhalla (Ontario) of the Liberal Party, which won the election and will form a minority government; and Drs. Colin Carrie (Ontario), Gary Goodyear (Ontario) and James Lunney (British Columbia), all members of the New Conservative Party. As recently demonstrated in Florida, where the chiropractic profession has senior representation in government and as a result, state funding for a new chiropractic school, representation and a voice within government wherever possible is of major benefit.France

The government has formally committed itself to legislation recognizing and regulating the practice of chiropractic, but the legislative proposal has been delayed because the government is dealing with the osteopathic profession at the same time, and there is disagreement among the five different osteopathic associations on standards. Chiropractic has united representation under the Association Franaise de Chiropratique, which has 350 members and is led by Dr. Mathieu Gontard (president) and Dr. Denis Alemi (vice president). France's chiropractic school, the Institut Franco-EuropŽen de Chiropratique (IFEC) in Paris, continues to graduate approximately 60 new chiropractors per annum.

At the ECU Convention in Helsinki in May, there was a meeting of representatives of the German Chiropractic Association (GCA) - led by President Dr. Michael Hafer - the ECU, the European Council on Chiropractic Education (ECCE) and the WFC, to consider how to respond to the development of two short-term, unaccredited and unacceptable "chiropractic schools" in Germany. These are the American Institute of Chiropractic in Hamburg, a 12-weekend course of approximately 430 hours; and the Berlin School of Chiropractic. Significant problems in Germany include the fact that there is no independent legislation regulating the practice of chiropractic; thousands of nonchiropractors registered as "heilpraktikers" who claim to offer chiropractic services; and there have been many case reports in Germany during the past year of injury following "chiropractic" treatment - none involving duly qualified chiropractors. At present, there is no legitimate chiropractic education in Germany, and the development of an accredited school there as soon as possible is now a priority for the GCA and the profession.

It is a pleasure to report that the Malaysian Chiropractic Association, after former problems with disunity, is now united, has 23 members, and predicts great potential growth of chiropractic in Malaysia in the years ahead. Development of a chiropractic school, possibly in collaboration with neighboring countries Singapore and Thailand, is now a priority. The current president of the MCA is Dr. Tom Ong of Kuala Lumpur, a Logan graduate who studied chiropractic as the result of seeing a family member relieved of severe and constant migraines through chiropractic care - a similar story to that of the revered former president of National College, Dr. Joseph Janse.

In May, the School of Chiropractic at the State University of Ecatepec Valley (UNEVE), Mexico City, hosted the annual meeting of the U.S.-based Association for the History of Chiropractic (AHC). The meeting featured papers on the history of chiropractic in the Latin American region, and these papers will be published in the next AHC Journal. The inaugural class at UNEVE, Mexico's first chiropractic school, which is government-approved and state-funded, is now halfway through its 12-semester program. There are currently 200 students in the program, and this will double to 400 by the time the first class graduates.

Perhaps in typical Norwegian fashion, the Norwegian Chiropractors' Association (NCA) has been achieving quiet, steady and now impressive advances for the profession. A recent two-year trial project, in which a representative group of chiropractors had extended practice rights, such as the ability to refer their patients for advanced imaging and to other medical specialists, with these services paid by National Health; completion of sick leave certificates; and admitting rights to emergency departments at hospitals, has proved a success and may now lead to permanent new rights. Additionally, the NCA, seeking university proposals for the development of a chiropractic school in Norway, has received two strong competing bids from major universities. The NCA currently has 300 members, and Norway has a population of 4.5 million.

Singapore only has 15 chiropractors in practice, and as of yet, no law to regulate the profession, but chiropractic is well-established. This was clear to the WFC from the cocktail reception held at the time of the WFC Council meeting in Singapore early this month, co-hosted by The Chiropractic Association (Singapore), and attended by association members and government representatives. The government is presently immersed in regulating the much larger profession of traditional Chinese medicine and has indicated that it will progress to the regulation of chiropractic after that.

Identity Consultation Report: A Brief Update

After the successful first meeting of the Task Force in February, there have been several meetings of the co-chairs, Drs. Paul Carey (Canada), Gerry Clum (U.S.) and Peter Dixon (U.K.). Here are a few of the important developments:

• The proposed survey for individual chiropractors was refined to reflect the further input from the Task Force, and pilot testing was carried out in Europe, Canada and the U.S. The feedback was very positive and enthusiastic. Some excellent points were made during pilot testing, resulting in amendments and a final draft that is ready to roll out in October.
• National associations have been incredibly helpful in preparing the necessary e-mail databases required to disseminate the survey worldwide - thank you.
• Our consultants will present an analysis of the survey to the co-chairs in late November 2004. This analysis will involve both global and regional results.
• A second meeting of the Task Force will be held at Life Chiropractic College West in January 2005, at which time the Task Force will discuss and reach consensus on the report on the overall identity consultation that will be made to the WFC Assembly in Sydney in June 2005.

At the recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Athens, the World Olympians Association (WOA) asked the IOC Athletes' Commission if it would like chiropractic to be one of the services made available to athletes at future Olympic Games. This motion received unanimous support from the IOC Athletes' Commission, representing a huge step forward for the profession.

The Federation Internationale de Chiropratique du Sport (FICS) feels that the next challenge following the decision of the IOC Athletes' Commission is to get support from the IOC Medical Commission. This will prove to be a significant challenge and will require broad support from the international chiropractic community. The FICS has a number of options available as to how to proceed, which will be discussed further at its meeting in August.

[Editor's note: This report has been excerpted/edited for relevance and space requirements. The WFC distributes the complete report on a quarterly basis to the WFC Council and Research Council; member associations, associate members, committees; and the executive boards of the ACC, the FCER and the FICS.]