The new Executive Committee (EC) of The European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (ETCMA) met face to face for a weekend at the beginning of May and, as a newly appointed member, I wanted to share more with BAcC Members about the great work that’s going on.
We had a very productive weekend where we planned our work for the next year. It’s certainly going to be a busy year with the 54th TCM congress in Rothenburg taking place in May, the School Leaders’ day also being organised, as well as plenty of lobbying and promotion.
It was also a great opportunity to learn more from Adrianne Waldt, our EC member who runs Advocacy and is our representative in EUROCAM. It was so interesting to hear more about EUROCAM and its aims.
EUROCAM
The objective of EUROCAM is to promote and facilitate Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine’s (TCIM) role in enhancing and maintaining citizens’ health, highlighting health promotion and TCIM’s contribution to preventative healthcare. It aims to:
- focus on TCIM’s place in EU public health policy and programmes.
- emphasise the accessibility and affordability of TCIM.
- advocate for TCIM with EU policymakers.
How ETCMA can help us
In the short time I’ve been with ETCMA, I’ve been learning about the amazing resource that is the ETCMA. On all our behalf, the organisation is busy lobbying and trying to raise the profile of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Although the UK is no longer in the EU, the British Acupuncture Council is still a member of the ETCMA so all their hard work can only benefit our cause.
There are many organisations that make up the ETCMA and I got a chance to meet some of them at their annual congress in February. The connections all over Europe are powerful and it is fascinating to learn how different countries treat our profession, some with full regulation and some where only medically trained doctors can practice.
World Acupuncture Awareness Day 2023
Last year, we supported ETCMA with its World Acupuncture Awareness Day 2022. This year’s World Acupuncture Awareness Day is in November and the ETCMA is hoping to get the google doodle changed for the day. How amazing would that be to open Google and see Acupuncture highlighted in some way! Get on board and sign the petition here.
My role in the ETCMA is to oversee Governance – to ensure that the organisation has up to date governance structures and to help our members with any Governance issues they might have. I find this fascinating work as good governance underpins everything we do.
Susan Evans – Executive Committee, ETCMA
April 2023
