This Day, That Year

Item from Nov 24, 1987, in China Daily: Acupuncturists throughout the world were urged yesterday to push the practice of traditional acupuncture and moxibustion (a form of heat therapy in which dried plant materials called “moxa” are burned on or very near the skin).

They were attending the first World Conference on Acupuncture-Moxibustion in Beijing. Before the event, the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies was inaugurated with 37,800 members from 100 countries and regions.

Thanks to decades of promotion, traditional Chinese medicine techniques such as acupuncture and moxibustion are growing in popularity worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization, 103 member states have given approval to the practice of acupuncture and moxibustion, 29 have enacted special statutes regarding traditional medicine and 18 have included acupuncture and moxibustion treatments in their medical insurance provisions, according to a white paper released by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, last year.

Governments of 86 countries and regions have signed agreements with the Chinese government on TCM cooperation.

In 2010, acupuncture was listed as a United Nations intangible cultural heritage.

TCM drew worldwide attention when Tu Youyou, a Chinese researcher, shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine after isolating the anti-malaria drug artemisinin from sweet wormwood, long used in traditional medicine. She became the first Chinese national to win a Nobel Prize in science.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the World Federation of AcupunctureMoxibustion Societies, which now has more than 200 corporate members and 18 working committees, along with more than 100,000 acupuncturists across the world.

In order to further promote TCM, the organization plans to build acupuncture museums around the world.