January, 1954.

EDITORIAL

P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y Page One

N O W  that w e are at the beginning o f  a N ew  
Year, it m ay be as well to think about the progress 
that was made in our physiotherapy world in 
1953, and to make som e easy resolutions for 1954,

Last year was a very active one for our 
Society.' We had som e post-graduate courses, 
which w e hope will be started again this year, 
we carried on a forceful battle about salaries 
with Provincial Adm inistrations and with various 
Benefit Societies for private practitioners. We 
are in the last stages o f registering a Society 

\ badge, and o f obtaining approval for the Afrikaans 
Fname o f  the Society. A  vast number o f  problems 
from  all over the country were satisfactorily 
solved, or afe still in the process o f  being solved. 
U nfortunately, the wheels o f  the official bodies 
with whom  we have to  deal, m ove very slowly. 
However, members can be assured that their 
requests and enquiries are not just “ pigeon holed .”

A ll the Branches have held interesting 
meetings and lectures, and already m ost have 
plans for m ore to com e this year. The sending 
in o f minutes by the Branches and the circulation 
o f  the Central Executive minutes to their members 
has improved, although we still receive innumer­
able queries which can be answered merely by 
reading these minutes.

W e are now  firmly established as a member 
o rgan isation . o f the W orld Confederation, and 
were lucky enough to have several South Africans 
at the 1953 Congress in London. W e have an 
important part to play in the affairs o f the World 

.Confederation, and certainly it will help and 
^advise us with our own country’s problems.

Nevertheless, the only way the Society can 
maintain any stature, or be o f  real assistance to 
its members, is by the support o f  these very 
members and by encouraging as m any new people 
to jo in  as possible. Joining the Society does not 
mean paying an annual subscription rather un­
willingly, and then ssitting back and saying 
“ W hat does the Society do for m e? ” I f  members 
would read their minutes and take a more active 
interest in the Society’s activities, they w ould 
realise what was being done for them, often in a 
quiet way, merely by protecting and furthering 
the interests o f  physiotherapists in this country.

The Society cannot do anything for you, 
unless y o u ,d o  som ething for it. Arrange meetings 
and lectures; send original articles, letters or other 
material for publication in your Journal; support 
functions arranged by your Branch; do som e 
research in your work; co-operate with other 
members o f  the medical profession. The list is 
endless, and i f  each o f  us had to write down 
what contribution we had made to our Society in 
1953, there would be far too m any pieces o f 
blank paper.

Let us try and emulate the enthusiasm o f 
the bigger Societies which was so evident at the 
International Congress, and not sit back and 
grumble at our “insuperable” difficulties o f 
distances and so on in this country. Otherwise 
we remain static and discontented.

The Central Executive Committee wishes 
every member o f  the Society a happy and pros­
perous N ew  Year, and looks forward to your 
support during it.

W orld Confederation
A letter from the W orld C onfederation for Physical 

Therapy has been received following representations from  
the C.E.C., in which th e Federation regretted th a t it was 
not within the scope o f their organisation to  assist in 
furthering the establishm ent o f reciprocity between South 
African qualifications in physiotherapy and similar quali­
fications overseas. As th e  W orld Federation were unable 
to help in this m atter it was suggested th a t the South A frican ■ 
Medical and D ental C ouncil should be approached.

As the S. A. M edical and D ental Council had reciprocity 
with th e B ritish M edical A ssociation, which in turn, had 
reciprocity w ith the C.S.P., an indirect app roach to  the 
C.S.P. might be possible in this way.

I t  was agreed th a t this m atter should be placed before 
the S.A. M edical and D en tal Council a t th e  next Auxi­
liaries meeting.

T he W orld Confederation reports the acceptance 
o f the C omite N ational des M asseurs-K inesitherapeutes 
Francais, as a m em ber organisation.

T he volume o f “ Proceedings o f C ongress” is now in 
preparation and is available on application to  the C hartered 
Society of Physiotherapy, price 3s. 6d. to  annual subscribers 
to  the C.S.P., price 12s. 6d. for others.

I t will include all lectures and papers given a t the 
Congress with a sum m ary o f the subsequent discussion; 
the speeches at th e Opening and Closing Sessions an d  at 
the D inner; brief descriptions o f th e dem onstrations, 
study visits and films, together w ith a reprint o f the p ro ­
gramme. O rders, w ith rem ittances, should be sent as 
soon as possible, as no surplus copies will be printed.

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