International News
Australia
Veterinarians Embrace Complementary Medicine
A survey of veterinarians has shown that they are in favor of the use of complementary
and alternative medicine in veterinary practice. More than a third of the respondents
indicated that they had used one of the 10 forms of complementary and alternative
veterinary medicine (CAVM) identified in the study, and 30 percent claimed to
have obtained a postgraduate or tertiary qualification in a form of CAVM. The
study was conducted by Dr Rowan Kilmartin, a veterinary surgeon from Queensland,
as part of his RMIT Masters Degree in Animal Chiropractic.
The project was a descriptive study to determine the attitudes of 500 veterinary
practitioners in private practice in Australia (Queensland) to complementary
and alternative medicine. The study also sought to determine which therapies,
if any, were considered by the veterinarians to be useful adjuncts in veterinary
practice. A 34 percent response was obtained and included 85 male and 63 female
practitioners. The mean number of years these veterinarians had spent in practice
was 15.32. The majority of respondents were from small animal practices.
The majority of respondents considered the use of CAVM to be appropriate in
practice provided the practitioner was properly trained. Animal physiotherapy
and veterinary acupuncture were found to be the most universally accepted therapies.
Animal chiropractic, vitamin and mineral therapy were also found to be well
accepted.
Canada
Manitoba Goes Long-Term with Chiropractic Care
The Manitoba government announced it has reached an agreement with the Manitoba
Chiropractors’ Association that provides coverage to all Manitobans while
achieving significant savings. Retroactive to July 1, 2002, Manitoba Health will
specifically provide coverage for Manitobans under 19 years of age and will provide
a benefit of $8 per visit to a maximum of 12 visits during the current fiscal
year. Effective April 1, 2003, the rate will increase to $9 per chiropractic visit.
The former rate was $11.56 per visit.
“We respect the role chiropractic care plays in the health care system,”
said Health Minister Dave Chomiak. “Our goal is to achieve a balance between
providing coverage that provides Manitobans affordable and effective health choices
and living within our fiscal boundaries.”
A three-person commission will be created to review the cost-effectiveness, the
accessibility and the integration of chiropractic services. The commission will
include one representative each of the Manitoba Chiropractors’ Association
and Manitoba Health, as well as a chairperson selected jointly. This commission
will report in 2004.
Chomiak said he was pleased the four-year agreement provides long-term stability
for the Manitoba government, chiropractors and their patients. Manitoba remains
one of the five provinces that provide chiropractic coverage. In the next two
years under this agreement, the Manitoba government will achieve savings totaling
$3.8 million.
“The battle for full inclusion and full compensation in Manitoba is far from
over and the need to be proactive and determined will continue,” said Dr.
Daniel Schaeffer. “Chiropractic’s critics and competitors have mounted
an active campaign on many fronts to restrict access to chiropractic and in fairness
to our patients who rely on chiropractic care, we are obliged to do all in our
power to see that justice for all Canadians in health care is done.”
Doctors of chiropractic and Manitoba chiropractic patients in the tens of thousands
mounted a powerfully resonating campaign to restore the chiropractic cuts since
the announcement of the new policy some months ago.
“Our grass-roots campaign has had a major impact on the government and should
stand as a very important lesson to other jurisdictions that such policies can
and will be reversed if opposed with dignity and resolve,” Dr. Schaeffer
said.
WCA Discusses Global Guidelines with World Health Organization
Officials from the World Chiropractic Alliance met in Geneva last summer with
officials of the World Health Organization to discuss the development of several
documents that will address international guidelines for chiropractic.
Matthew McCoy, D.C., a member of the WCA International Board of Governors and
chairman of the WCA Council on Chiropractic Clinical Sciences, discussed the issue
with key WHO officials during the 55th World Health Assembly.
The WCA’s invitation to the meeting came from Dr. Xiaorui Zhang, WHO team
coordinator for traditional medicine. Dr. Zhang has met with WCA representatives
in the past and recently oversaw the development of a document on Basic Training
and Safety in Acupuncture that was published by the WHO in 1999.
The meeting on chiropractic guidelines came as a result of the release of WHO’s
“Traditional Medicine Strategy 2002-2005,” a document unveiled during
a “Technical Briefing on Traditional Medicine” held during the World
Health Assembly.
In the document, WHO attempts to define its role in traditional medicine as well
as complementary and alternative medicine—and develop a strategy to address
issues of policy, safety, efficacy, quality, access and rational use of traditional,
complementary and alternative medicine.
Dr. McCoy met with Yukiko Maruyama the technical officer for Traditional Medicine
and Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy of WHO. They discussed WHO’s traditional
medicine strategy and the steps and help necessary for WHO to develop guidelines
for chiropractic. These guidelines would be used to assist nations of the world
in developing policies for the introduction of chiropractic into their health
care systems.
“This is actually part of WHO’s strategy,” McCoy explained. “They
obviously realize the value of traditional medicine in health promotion and they
have placed chiropractic under the umbrella of traditional medicine along with
other health care such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine, etc.”
The WCA has a long history of cooperation with the United Nations and WHO and
in 1998 was granted status as a non-governmental organization (NGO) associated
with the United Nations Department of Public Information. The WCA made the first-ever
chiropractic presentations at the International Conference of NGOs in Seoul, Korea;
met with the director of external cooperation and relations; gave presentations
on licensing and the legal status of chiropractic worldwide; and held a session
on chiropractic and women’s health at the annual Assembly of the Commission
on the Status of Women.
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