Editor’s note: The following country reports are reprinted with permission from the World Federation of Chiropractic’s latest Quarterly World Report. To view the complete quarterly report, visit www.wfc.org.
The practice of chiropractic is recognized by law in France, but not yet fully regulated. The AFC anticipates that the full regulatory system will be in place by summer or fall 2009.
Indonesia: The Asosiasi Chiropraktor Indonesia (ACI), a national association representing 18 of Indonesia’s 25 DCs, was accepted into membership by the Asian Pacific Chiropractic Doctors’ Federation (APCDF) at its meeting Feb. 27-28 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The APCDF is the regional organization for national associations in Asia and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and other Pacific islands). The profession is not yet well-established in Indonesia, where all chiropractors but two are expatriates from other countries, but there are current initiatives underway to establish regulation and chiropractic education. For more information, contact Dr. David Husband of the ACI at
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Iran: The practice of chiropractic has been regulated by law since 1998 and Dr. Hossein Sabbagh, president of the Iranian Chiropractic Association (IRCA) says 60 licenses have been issued since then. A WFC delegation visiting Iran this spring at the request of the IRCA (led by WFC President Dr. Stathis Papadopoulos and Secretary-General David Chapman-Smith) met with association members and visited chiropractic offices in Tehran and Esfahan. They were very impressed with the standards and acceptance of the profession.
IRCA members come from many colleges, mainly in North America. Practices are busy, and relationships with medical and other health care professions are excellent. Chiropractors have a broad scope of practice with full diagnostic rights, including ready access to advanced imaging. In what is likely a first internationally, Dr. Sabbagh currently holds an appointment on the national medical council; for the past four years, he has represented chiropractic and other health professions on the 14-person Iranian Medical Council.
One purpose of the WFC visit was to assess the feasibility of holding next year’s 5th Annual Eastern Mediterranean Region Meeting in Iran. That meeting is now scheduled to take place in Shiraz, Iran, in early April 2010.
Japan: The Tokyo College of Chiropractic (TCC), formerly known as RMIT Chiropractic Unit Japan, held its 10th graduation ceremony on March 19, 2009. Twenty-seven new graduates formally joined the profession. The commencement speaker for the event was Hon. Ryuichiro Doi, a senior member of the Democratic Party who heads the Chiropractic Subcommittee of Integrative Medicine Congress Union. He encouraged graduates by informing them that the party is preparing a manifesto to include chiropractic for the next general election.
Among the graduates is Yoshiaki Takeyachi, MD, PhD, an orthopedic surgeon who now heads the research department at TCC and recently published a paper titled The Credibility of the Miura Report: A Medical Re-Evaluation. The paper is a rebuttal of the Miura Report, written in 1991 by orthopedic surgeons, that criticized the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic and still influences Japanese policy-makers. Dr. Takeyachi is the son of Kazuyoshi Takeyachi, DC, vice president of TCC, and the brother of Yasunobu Takeyachi, DC, MD, also an orthopedist and a graduate of National University of Health Sciences.
Libya: Dr. Gamal Giroush, a Palmer College of Chiropractic graduate and the country’s sole chiropractor, practicing in Tripoli, reports that he has two sons at Palmer who will return to practice in Libya after graduation. Dr. Giroush also says that the Ministry of Health, following receipt of technical information from him, the WFC and other organizations, has advised that the government will now move to recognize and regulate the practice of chiropractic.
Malaysia: Malaysian Chiropractic Association President, Dr. Vishwadeep Singh Sandhu, and colleagues hosted the Asian Pacific Chiropractic Doctors’ Federation Assembly in Kuala Lumpur in late February 2009. The event was attended by delegates from Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
For some years there have been plans to establish a chiropractic school in Malaysia, one of the most stable countries in Southeast Asia in political and economic terms. At present, the only chiropractic schools accredited or applying for accreditation in Asia are in Japan (two schools) and South Korea. Present at the APCDF Assembly and reporting on a proposed school were Dr. Graham Hunt and Dr. Michael Haneline, formerly of Palmer Chiropractic College West. The proposed course, being developed in association with the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, is to be taught at the International Medical University (IMU) at Bukit Jalil, which offers a wide range of health courses.
Students will take a five-year course – four years plus a one-year clinical internship – leading to a BChiro degree, and will receive much of their training in IMU’s teaching hospitals. The university will seek to have the program accredited by CCE Australasia.
New Zealand: Now that there is an established chiropractic school in New Zealand, the profession is growing more rapidly. Currently, there are 385 DCs in practice, and Dr. Brian Kelly, president of New Zealand Chiropractic College, says 83 students are enrolled in the first-year class at the school’s new larger facility in Auckland.
It has been 30 years since the famous New Zealand Commission of Inquiry Into Chiropractic reported in 1979. According to New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association President, Dr. James Burt, the commission will be a central focus of the NZCA Annual Convention in Auckland this month.
The Philippines: Dr. Martin Camera of Manila, which to the WFC’s knowledge is the only chiropractor worldwide to be appointed to a national Olympic committee, served as medical co-chair of the Philippines Olympic Team in Beijing in 2008. Since 2006, he has also served on the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC), a government agency preparing for formal recognition of chiropractic and a number of other complementary health care professions,. PITAHC has now formed a formal board of chiropractic with Dr. Camera, a Palmer West graduate, as board chair, in preparation for professional regulation in the Philippines.
United Arab Emirates: At the WFC’s 4th Annual Eastern Mediterranean Region Meeting in Dubai in February, the Emirates Chiropractic Association (ECA), representing the country’s 20 doctors of chiropractic, played host. Most of the chiropractors, including ECA President Dr. Travis Mitchell from South Africa, are expatriates who work for government or private interdisciplinary clinics. Many, such as Dr. Peter Jensen (Denmark), who has been at the Zayed Military Hospital in Abu Dhabi for 10 years, stay long term.
The UAE is one of three countries (Cyprus and Iran are the other two) in the region with legislation recognizing and regulating the practice of chiropractic. This year’s regional meeting was attended by 40 chiropractors representing 10 countries; plans were developed to create a regional chiropractic organization for the Eastern Mediterranean / Middle East.