World Acupuncture Day is an event organized by the World Acupuncture Day Organization (WADO) in response to the eighth anniversary that UNESCO has included acupuncture and moxibustion on it's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The one-day event, organized under the patronage of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the World Health Organization (WHO) is taking place at the House of UNESCO in Paris, France.
On Thursday, November 15th practitioners, researchers, politicians, academics, and administrators of all disciplines related to acupuncture and moxibustion will share their knowledge and experience. The goal is to promote acupuncture worldwide, and to reach policy makers.
The World Scientific and Cultural Dialogue on Acupuncture (WSCDA) congress will take place the following two days (November 16th & 17th). This will allow other medical and health professionals, and researchers from around the world to exchange their skills and practices. The congress will take place at the City of Science and Industry, also in Paris, France.
This world event has a long list of partners - including WFAS (World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies), AFA (Association Française d'Acupuncture), APEMECT (Association pour la Promotion Européenne de la Médecine Chinoise Traditionnelle), and many more.
A student stands over a patient, needle poised. They have a “perfect” prescription: a textbook combination of points harvested from a lecture slide on chronic lower back pain. But as the needle meets the skin, the student hesitates - the symptom of a quiet habit that has taken hold of our profession. We routinely say we “prescribe” points. It sounds efficient. It echoes the authority of biomedical culture and fits neatly into the insurance field. But vocabulary is never neutral; repeated long enough, it dictates behavior.
Acupuncture can be highly effective in cases of nasal congestion so common in allergy presentations; so much so that I often treat such issues using acupuncture protocols alone. In cases of seasonal allergies with highly predictable causes such as obvious elevations of environmental allergens, I use a skeleton acupuncture prescription that can easily be fleshed out to target potential underlying patterns and effectively customized to the patient.
The field of acupuncture in the U.S. continues to grow in visibility, patient demand and clinical effectiveness. Yet behind the curtain, many acupuncturists are quietly struggling to keep their doors open. While the profession is rooted in centuries of healing tradition, modern economic pressures – particularly those driven by insurance limitations, low reimbursement rates and job-market saturation – are making it increasingly difficult for licensed acupuncturists to thrive.
