THE INCENTIVE SCHEME FOR THE INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO
CHINESE MEDICINE, WORLD FEDERATION OF CHINESE MEDICINE SOCIETIES

Chapter 1   General Provisions
Article 1 To give full play to initiatives and creativities of the broad professionals of Chinese medicine, to push forward exchange between academic bodies in different countries and regions, to improve the level of Chinese medicine, to promote Chinese medicine to merge into the medical healthcare system of different country & regions, and to make further contributions to the health and well-being of mankind, WFCMS established ‘the International Award for Contribution to Chinese Medicine’.

Article 2 The International Award for Contribution to Chinese Medicine is granted to organizations and individuals who have made outstanding achievements in promotion of exchange and cooperation between Chinese medicine and various medical systems in the world.

Article 3 The International Award for Contribution to Chinese Medicine is an award of social sectors without grades. The incentive cycle is once 1-2 years and the maximum awards of each year are no more than ten.

Article 4 The recommendation, evaluation and prize-giving adhere to the fairness and just doctrine, striving to be recognized and trusted by the international community.

Chapter 2 Award
Article 5 Any organization or individual winning the award should comply with the following requirements.
a) Great achievements made in scientific researches of Chinese medicine, which gains remarkable social or economic benefits, and produces great international significance.
b) Great contributions made to offering service, teaching or training personnel of Chinese medicine to local people, or to developing Chinese medicine.
c) Great contributions made to promoting international exchange and cooperation of Chinese medicine, which produces great international significance in popularization of Chinese medicine.
Article 6 Honorary certificate and prize money: An honorary certificate and prize money of USD 10,000 for each award will be granted to the organization or individual winner by the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies.
                             

Chapter 3 Appraisal Organ
Article 7 Specialists are engaged by the WFCMS to organize an appraisal committee. The appraisal committee is responsible for preliminary screening; the Executive Council of the WFCMS is an appraisal body in charge of the final verification and adjudication. 

Article 8 The working office of the appraisal committee is the secretariat of the WFCMS. The award office is set up by WFCMS, responsible for organizing, unscrambling and managing the documents of recommendation, communicating with the committee members, arranging the mode, time and place of the appraisal, and reporting its work annually to the appraisal committee.

Article 9 Members of the appraisal committee have to set rigid demands on themselves, be practical and realistic, just and in array, and keep away from fraudulent practices. They have to pay close attention to protection of intellectual property rights and right to privacy.

Chapter 4 Recommendation

Article 10 Recommendations are accepted from the following organizations and departments:
1. Member societies of the WFCMS , specialty committees and departments of the WFCMS secretariat;
2. The World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS);
3. Departments responsible for Chinese medicine management of the provincial level;
4. China Association of Chinese Medicine, China Association of Acupuncture-Moxibustion, Chinese Association of the Integration of Traditional and Western Medicine, China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Association of Minority Medicine, China Association of Research & Development on Traditional Chinese Medicine, etc.
5. Embassies (Consulates) of the People’s Republic of China in foreign countries, Embassies (Consulates) of foreign countries in the People’s Republic of China.

Article 11 Basic requirements for recommendation:
1. Any organization or individual nominated in China not through the WFCMS, the WFAS and embassies (consulates) should be recommended by national Grade I societies or competent administrative department above the provincial level, and only one recommendation is made by one society or provincial department every session of the International Award for Contribution to Chinese Medicine.
2. Any organization or individual nominated in countries other than China not through embassies (consulates)   should be recommended jointly by three member societies of the WFCMS or WFAS.

Article 12  The form of recommendation should be filled out in detail as required in Chinese and English.

Article 13 Any organization or department that makes recommendation should provide real and reliable information.

Article 14 Recommendations are sent to the Office of the International Award for Contribution to Chinese Medicine, and they are put into database after the preliminary screening of the award office.

Chapter 5 Appraisal

Article 15 The following items are examined by the Office of the International Award for contribution to Chinese Medicine.
1. See if the recommendation complies with the range of award.
2. See if the form of recommendation is filled out as required and with needed enclosures.
3. See if the information about the technological part is real.
4. See if the diskette is supplied as required.

Article 16 Comprehensive evaluation will be made based on the following factors: size of contribution, social general acknowledgement, international influence and promotion of Chinese medicine marching to the world, etc.

Article 17 The procedure of appraisal includes preliminary screening and final verification. The former is accomplished by the specialty groups of the appraisal committee, while the latter by the Executive Council of the WFCMS.

Article 18 Preliminary screening: After examination of the written form, it is accomplished by five specialty groups including group of administrative specialists, technical specialists, media, delegates of oversea WFCMS members and commonalty on internet.
Each group decides the first, second and third places through screening, and they are scored 20, 15 and 10 points respectively. Points of the five groups are added together and they are arranged in order.

Article 19 Final verification: The proposed winners are published on internet to listen to opinions, and then the final winners are decided by the Executive Council of the WFCMS through vote.

Chapter 6 Dispute Settlement

Article 20 The WFCMS makes the organization or individual winners known to the public. If there is dispute about the winners, or if there is malpractice to expose, opinions in written form should be submitted in 30 days after the announcement.

Article 21 If the dispute is not substantial, the recommending organization or department takes measures to coordinate and raises proposals for settlement to the award office; if the dispute is substantial, e.g. involving intellectual property rights, adjudication is final made after an investigation done by the specialists engaged by the award office. 

Chapter 7 Penalty

Article 22 Any organization or individual or recommending department that commits a fraud or cheats out of the ward with dishonest methods confirmed through investigation, the award should be cancelled, and the honorary certificate and prize money be recovered.

Article 23 Anyone who is involved in the appraisal activities with malpractice should be relevantly settled by the WFCMS after investigation and verification.

Chapter 8 Supplementary Articles

Article 24 This incentive scheme is put into force on the day reviewed and approved by the Executive Council of the WFCMS.

Article 25 The right to interpretation for the incentive scheme resides in the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies.