P h ysio th e ra p y, S e p te m b e r 1982, vol 38, n o 3 71 IX INTERNATIO NAL C O N G R E SS O F WCPT — X C O U N C IL M EETING WCPT ST O C K H O L M , MAY 1982 The IX W C P T C ong re ss a n d X Council Meeting were held c on cu rr e nt ly in St o c k h o lm , Sw eden, du ri n g the last week in May. Ten ph y sio th era pi sts fro m S o u t h Africa a tt e n d e d and six pap ers were pres ent ed by p hy si ot he ra pi st s from this c ou ntr y, name ly P. Blake, M. Bosm an , A. W e n h a m (all from J o h a n n e s b u r g ) E. Fr ee lan d (C a p e T o w n) G. Oos thu iz en ( Pr et o ria ) a nd P. G o u n d e n (D u r b a n ) . The meetings were held in the S t o c k h o lm In te rn a tio n a l Fairs, a magnificent venue for ho ld in g a congress. The or g a n is at i o n of the entire pro cee din gs was o u t st an d i ng , beg innin g with the very impressive o p e n in g c er em ony co nd uc te d by Princess Ch ri sti na o f Sweden, to the scholarly closing a dd res s by Heidi P a a te r o o f Finl and . In his welco min g a d dre ss Eu g en e Michels, President of v W C P T , e n c o u r a g e d delegates at the congress to a tt e n d some ►'of the council meetings in o r d e r to lea rn m o r e a b o u t the stru cture, policies a n d wo rk of the world co nf ed er ati on . The in te rn at io n al co nc er ns o f p h y s io th er a py w ould th en be come more meaningful. Mr. Michels urged delegates to increase their c o m m i tm e n t a n d responsibility to i n te rn at io na l affairs. The congress with its theme, M a n in Ac tio n, was atte n de d by a p p r o x im a t e ly 20 0 0 delegates. M a rg ar e t a N o r d i n of Sweden delivered the op e ni ng ke yno te lecture. In answ ering the q u e st io n wha t p h y s i o t h e r a p y is. she defined it as a profession, as a n a pp lie d science a n d possibly as an art. Phy sio th e ra py could there for e be seen as a specialised health an d medical care. The field is wide because the profession is old a n d the skills are diversified. As yet no precise distinction has been m ad e to profile the profession. Yet the field is n a r ro w because of sh o r t e du ca tio n, lack o f research an d lack of financial ba cking. Ms N o r d i n e m p h a si z e d ho w im p o r t a n t it was for the pr of es so n to b e c o m e a scientific art a n d no t an artificial science. The congress week was a very busy a n d full one. The main topics o f the cong ress were: m a n ’s respo nse to m uscular trai nin g a n d exercise; he al th a n d n u r s i n g c a r e ; research; pain t re a tm e nt a n d pedagogics. Over 150 pa p er s were read, m aki ng it possible to he ar only a few. In a d d it i o n there were special interest gr o u p s, w o rk s h o p s a n d pro fessio nal visits. Two new features this year were film studi os a n d poster ^exhibitions. T h e film studi os pr ove d to be very p o p u l a r indeed a n d were c ro w de d out. On the whole the s t a n d a r d of papers was high er t h a n in prev ious years, with a far s tr on ge r slant t ow a r ds research. In fact those in the au d ien ce with no knowledge of statistics fo u nd themselves struggling to un d e r st an d m any papers. Several interesting pap ers were delivered on ethical principles a n d health care. One of the most p o p u l a r sessions o f the whole week was the sunrise session 7h30-9h30 on the a cu te care of low ba ck pain, where the au di en ce was f o r t u n a t e to h e ar a m o n g s t ot he rs papers from Dr. N a c h e m so n a n d Ms Zach icss on -Fo rse ll. This was a very inf orm at ive session a nd was well w o r t h the early rise from bed! The t r ad e e x hi bi tio n was vast, sho win g a hug e range of e q ui pm e nt available to p hy si ot he ra pi st s in E u ro p e a nd the U.S.A. It is mo st u n f o r t u n a t e th at the price m ak e s it virtually impossible to p ur c ha se t h em in S o u t h Africa. O f p ar ticu la r interest was the huge va riety o f wheelchairs th at are available a n d the different types o f m ate rials th a t are no w being used to m an u fa ct u re them. U n f o r t u n a t e l y th e C o u n c i l M e e ti n g s w e r e held c on cur re ntl y with the Congress, which resulted in delegates missing m u ch o f the scientific p r o g r a m m e . It is to be hoped th at in following years the Counc il Meeting will be held either before o r a fte r Congress. The Counc il Meeting was e xtr em el y lengthy a n d no t all the business was conclu ded . Ho pefully this will also be rectified at futu re meetings. M at ter s discussed were ethical principles, articles of a sso ci ati o n and finance. Ma rg ri t List was elected the new pr esident o f W C P T a n d Ingrid Od in was elected 1st Vice President. Heidi P a a te r o o f F i nl an d delivered the co n cl u di ng lecture, t aki ng a look at the futu re with its rapidly developing t ech no lo gy an d specialisation as a ch ara cteristic of c o n t e m p o r a r y society. A challenge set by W H O is health for all by the year 2000. In o r d e r to a t t a i n this, Ms P a a te r o says p hy sio th era pi sts will need to a d a p t activities to culture and health care of their co un tries. The profession o f the future will need to co n st ru ct their ev eryday practice on a scientific f o u n d a ti o n . P h y s io t h e r a p y sh o u ld be defined so th at it c o r re s p o n d s to reality. F o r th ose w ho were fo r t u n at e en o u g h to a tte n d this congress, it was indeed a mo st m e m o r a b l e week. St o c k h o lm is a very beautiful city a n d few will forget the recep tion held in the magnificent S t o c k h o lm City Hall, the evening boa t trip a r o u n d the S t o c k h o lm arch ip ela go, the wo nderful ho spi tal ity at the h o m e visit, the d e m o n s t r a t i o n s objecting to S o u t h Africa’s presence at the congress an d mo st o f all the w a r m th a n d friendliness o f the Swedish physiotherapists. P. B O W E R B A N K — S O U T H A F R I C A N DE L E G A T E R E S E A R C H CO M MI TTE E A list o f ph ys io th era pi sts interested in research has been co mp il ed, to get he r with their fields o f interest where this is k no wn . This list plus a n y i n f o r m a t io n on research which come s to h a nd is available fro m the Research C o m m i t te e on request. In o r d e r to cover costs a su bs cr ip tio n o f R 1.00 a year has been decided u po n a n d shou ld be sent to the C h a ir m a n , R esearch C om m it te e , P O Box I I 151, J o h a n n e s b u r g , 2000 M A N I P U L A T I V E T H E R A P I S T S G R O U P The Na tio n a l Executive o f the M. T .G . has been t r a n s ­ ferred to the Trans vaa l. Hon. Secretary: Mrs. J o y Edeling, 311 Medical Hill, Kotze Street, Hillbrow, J o h a nn e sb ur g. Telephone: 642-2422. The Tr ans vaa l Branch will co n tin u e to present a m on thl y p r o g r a m m e o f t e a c h i n g , d i s c u s s i o n a n d c l i n i c a l presentations. These are held on the second M o n d a y o f every m o n th excepting July a n d De ce m be r at the J o h a n n e s b u r g Hospital, Phy sio th e ra p y D e p a rt m e n t at 20h00. All m em be rs o f the S. A.S. P. are eligible for m em b e rsh ip of the M.T .G. Prospective M.T .G. m em be rs are invited to a tt e n d two such evenings, after which they shou ld j o in the M.T.G. The e n tr a n ce fee is R5 a n d a n n u a l subs cri pt ion is R5. Appl ica tion for m em b e rs h ip form s must be m ad e to the Hon. Secretary. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )