News from Overseas
By Professor Andries Kleynhans

An Introduction to Chiropractic in South East Asia

Overview
Having reported on news from various Western countries, it seems both timely and important that we consider news from our own region – Australasia and the Asia-Pacific Region. There is no doubt that, sooner or later, developments in the region will impact on chiropractic in Australia. As it is, the Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia Incorporated (CCE Inc.), has been assigned by the Council on Chiropractic Education International (CCEI), as the chiropractic education accrediting agency for the Asia-Pacific region

Chiropractic has well and truly been introduced to South-east Asia, but to varying degrees. There is sufficient development in most of the countries to ensure increasing provision of chiropractic services to the community, albeit in a very limited way in some countries where it could still be regarded as elitist treatment for people who can afford to pay.

Each country in the region has its own idiosyncrasies and problems and the solution in one country will not necessarily benefit another. However, it is reasonable to believe that good educational standards in the region will make a huge difference to acceptance by government and society, but more importantly, to the standard of chiropractic care delivered to patients.

Recognition of Chiropractors
Hong Kong has statutory recognition and has reached the highest level of legitimization in the region – however, all of this came at very big personal cost to some pioneers such as the British chiropractor, Palmer graduate and accomplished artist, Dr. Bruce Vaughn – a former president of the World Federation of Chiropractic. An account of the history of the chiropractic profession in Hong Kong during the past 50 years, from early beginnings to the hard-fought campaign for full recognition under the law is given in Rabid Dogs in the East, by Bruce Vaughn. The title is based on a description by anti-chiropractic crusaders. It is available as ISBN 0-595-26764-5 through Iuniverse.com, Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com. It presents a heartwarming tale of how loyalty to your principles and unwavering determination can triumph over the opposition of powerful vested interests (Chapman-Smith). Dr. Vaughn, past president of the HK Chiropractors Association and past president of the Hong Kong Chiropractic Council, continues as principal of a large group practice in Hong Kong Central.

In Japan, chiropractic may be practiced freely but has no legal recognition.

In Malaysia, chiropractic is recognised by the health department, which recommends chiropractors for work permits to practice but upon recommendation of the Malaysian Society of Complementary Therapies – a body that has been controlled by non-chiropractors.

The few chiropractors in the Philippines are allowed to practice with some limited recognition from the government. Similarly, the few chiropractors in Thailand are allowed to practice with some recognition from the government in terms of issuing work permits to foreigners; however, they tend not to be liked by the medics and physios.

It is illegal to practice as a chiropractor in South Korea unless you have another registration, e.g. in medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy etc. Korean medical practitioners receive payment for practicing chiropractic and chiropractors are arrested if they engage in practice outside the medical context.

There is some recognition of chiropractors by the health department in Singapore, mainly related to the issuing of work permits to foreigners, but they are under attack from the medical profession and are not considered to be well-disciplined themselves.

Chiropractic Education
Chiropractic education is widely available in the region – mainly through totally substandard one or two year programs in Japan and by correspondence in the Philippines, while the only credible programs are the RMIT University programs, of which I facilitated the introduction some years ago; and the program at Hanseo University, South Korea, now linked to Bridgeport University in the USA and previously the program we introduced through RMIT. The exact number of chiropractic colleges in Japan is not known but is thought to be on the order of more than 60, mostly with 1-2 year programs and often linked to one of the more than a dozen chiropractors’ associations.

There is a very small number of qualified people in each country and in some there are thousands of so-called chiropractors with very little background - i.e. South Korea, Taiwan, Japan.

A Summary Profile
The following table is based on best estimates from my own visits and enquiries in all these countries. However, if any reader can correct statements made, please do not hesitate to contact the author on kleynhans@bigpond.com so that these can be reflected in future editions of News from Overseas.

COUNTRY	# QUALIFIED AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL	# QUALIFIED THAT SPEAK ENGLISH	# UNQUALIFIED CHIROPRACTORS (#WHO READ ENGLISH)	LEGISLATIVE STATUS
HONG KONG	Fewer than 40	All	Nil	Law and Board in place
JAPAN	Fewer than 200	About 65-70	About 8-10 thousand (Handful)	No legal recognition but allowed to practice without interference
MALAYSIA	About 16	About 16	Very few -expatriate South Koreans (very few if any)	Some recognition by health department but under attack by medics
PHILIPPINES	Fewer than a dozen	Fewer than a dozen	Unknown (Unknown)	Some recognition by health department
TAIWAN	Fewer than a dozen	Fewer than a dozen	Thousands (Probably none)	Universities may still be forbidden to teach chiropractic, however practitioners are condoned to practice
THAILAND	Fewer than a dozen	Fewer than a dozen	Not known-very few if any	Some recognition by health department but under attack by medics and physiotherapists
SINGAPORE	Fewer than a dozen	Fewer than a dozen		Condoned to practice but not liked by medics
SOUTH KOREA	Fewer than 80 Mainly MD's who did RMIT degree in Korea	Fewer than 80 read some English	Thousands (Probably none)	Against the law to practice as a chiropractor. Condoned to practice chiropractic if you are registered as a heath professional e.g. medicine, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy

The profiles of specific countries in the region and the forces that may influence future development will be discussed in subsequent items on News from Overseas.