More than 1,500 acupuncturists from nearly 30 countries and
regions will gather in Beijing this October, to discuss the future
of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
From Oct. 20 to 22, the acupuncturists will attend an academic
forum for the 20th anniversary of the World Association of
Acupuncture. The forum, with the theme of "acupuncture: looking
back and looking forward", will have eight sub-forums on topics
like education, the evolution of acupuncture and needle therapy
practice and assessment.
An exhibition of new methods and technologies in the field will
also be held.
Deng Liangyue, chairman of the World Association of Acupuncture,
said the association had successfully held six forums on
acupuncture in China, Japan, the United States, France and the
Republic of Korea over the past 20 years. With efforts from
acupuncturists worldwide, needle therapy has spread all over the
world.
So far, more than 140 countries and regions have adopted
acupuncture treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine represented by
needle therapy is accepted and welcomed by mainstream society in
many countries.
Statistics from the World Association of Acupuncture show there
are about 100,000 people engaged in acupuncture services in Japan.
Some 29 percent of Tokyo's residents have received acupuncture
treatment at least once. More than five million European patients
choose needle therapy every year.
Acupuncture, one of the oldest traditional Chinese therapies,
can not only help people give up smoking, but also cure sterility
and even drug addiction. For poor people, it is a low-cost and
easily accessible medical resource.
(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2007)