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ICMART 10th World Congress
Edinburgh, Scotland
May 3-6, 2002
Report by Bryan L. Frank, M.D., DABMA
The British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS) and the International Council of Medical Acupuncture and Related Techniques (ICMART) hosted the 10th World ICMART Congress in historic Edinburgh, Scotland May 3-6, 2002. Delegates as well as the speakers came from across the globe to participate in this Congress. The BMAS Organizing Committee included Jacqueline Filshie- Secretary of BMAS and 2001-2002 Vice-President, Hywel Watkin,-President of BMAS, Mike Cummings- Medical Director of BMAS, David Grant- Council Member, Jonothan Rae- Honorary Treasurer, and Peter Evans- Counil Member. The ICMART Committee included Walburg Maric-Oehler- 2001-2002 ICMART President, Helmut Liertzer- 2001-2002 ICMART Vice-President, Baron François Beyens- ICMART Secretary General, and Pall Rosted- ICMART Treasurer.
During the Congress, the ICMART General Assembly met and announced the new Officers for 2002-2003, including Dr. Christer Carlsson (Sweden)- President, Dr. Walburg Maric-Oehler- Vice-President, Dr. Bryan L. Frank- Vice-President, Dr. Palle Rosted- Treasurer, and Baron François Beyens- Secretary General. Additionally, it was announced that the 11th ICMART Congress will be celebrated in Prague, Czech Republic in 2003 and in Brazil in 2004.
With the BMAS' heavy emphasis on "evidence based medicine", most of the speakers presented scientifically based presentations. Plenary sessions began with Thomas Lundeberg of Sweden, presenting on "Acupuncture mechanisms and the relevance to clinical practice", followed by: "Meta-analysis update" by Adrian White (UK), "Acupuncture for infertility in women" by Elisabet Stener-Victorin (Sweden), "Acupuncture in the treatment of addictions" by Adrian White (UK), "Acupuncture in stroke rehabilitation- is there a role? By Barbro Hohanssen (Sweden), "Future directions for acupuncture research" by Walter Zieglgänsberger (Germany), "Acupuncture in anesthesia" by Konrad Streitberger (Germany), and "Acupuncture and immunology" by R. Saso (England).
Clinical workshops and free papers included: Peter Baldry of the UK on "Superficial versus deep needling", "Back pain introduction and overview by Christer Carlsson (Sweden), and "Back pain clinical perspectives" by Daniel Traum (Australia), "The need for evaluation and modernization of the theoretical corpus of TCM" by Thomas Ots and Michael Jammes (Germany), "Treating neuropathic pain with IMS" by Chan Gunn, "Shen Men does not exist!" by Bryan Frank, among many others.
The BMAS hosted the Opening Ceremonies at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, followed in the week by the Gala Dinner at the beautiful Prestonfield House, highlighted with special Scottish bagpipes, singing, and dancing.
During the ICMART Annual General Meeting, the Acupuncture Charter Berlin was affirmed, having been presented initially at the ICNART Congress a year before in Berlin. This charter affirms the importance of establishing unified international western standards of medical acupuncture in education, practice, and research, strengthening relationships between national medical acupuncture societies around the world, further collaboration with the World Health Organization, and extending national cooperation with universities, medical institutions, health funding organizations, and patient organizations.
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