New Year's Greetings from WFCMS

Medical colleagues around the world and friends from various circles at home and abroad,
 

The New Year's bell has rung for 2023, and every moment of biding farewell to the old and welcoming the new is exciting The crisp and pleasant sound of the bell brings a successful end for our joint endeavour, the high-pitched bell inspires us to build a better future together. Here,on behalf of WFCMS, I would like to express my holiday greetings and sincere wishes to the global traditional Chinese medicine professionals,  284 member groups from 74 countries and regions of five continents, the experts and scholars from 201 branches and friends from all walks of life who care about and support the development of WFCMS.
 

Time is a sculptor of history, and it engraves the rings of great effort and outlines the trace of change.The year of 2022 is an extraordinary year for WFCMS , these key words of the year, including global health governance, anti-epidemic of traditional Chinese medicine, academic leadership of traditional Chinese medicine, international standard of traditional Chinese medicine, international education of traditional Chinese medicine, World Congress of Traditional Chinese Medicine, World Traditional Chinese Medicine Day and so on, condense the pictures of promoting the high-quality international development and dissemination of traditional Chinese medicine in WFCMS, and record the footprints of being  vigorous and industrious,and keep moving forward bravely of WFCMS.
 

In this year, WFCMS united all its members, branches and Chinese medicine professionals around the world to face the hundred-year changes in the world and the challenges of the COVID-19 epidemic in the century with wisdom and strength. We forged ahead and overcome the difficulties together, and wrote a new chapter to promote the high-quality integration of Chinese medicine into the world and build a blueprint for the development of "belt and road initiative".
 

In this year, we continued to promote the participation in global health governance, and the international status of WFCMS became increasingly prominent, as WFCMS was invited to attend the consultation and discussion meeting of the NGO Committee of the UN Economic and Social Council, and participated in WHO meeting, ISO meeting and UNESCO intergovernmental committee meeting online and offline ... making contributions to the participation of traditional Chinese medicine in global health governance.
 

In this year, the global anti-epidemic support action of traditional Chinese medicine was persistent. Confronted with the challenge of the constant variation of COVID-19 epidemic strains around the world, group members and branches strove for the support of all local parties, actively carried out diagnosis and treatment services of traditional Chinese medicine in community, and cooperatively held popular science lectures, free clinic consultation and other activities. The World Health Organization issued an expert evaluation report, affirming the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine in treating COVID-19. The role of traditional Chinese medicine in fighting COVID-19 epidemic is increasingly recognized by the international community.
 

In this year, the World Congress of Traditional Chinese Medicine, an international brand conference that attracts worldwide attention from traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, entered South America for the first time. The 19th World Congress of Traditional Chinese Medicine was successfully held in Sao Paulo, Brazil from November 26 to 27. The Consul General of Consulate General of China in Sao Paulo, Brazil attended the congress and pointed out in his speech: "The World Congress of Traditional Chinese Medicine was held in South America for the first time in nearly 20 years, which is of great significance to the promotion and exchange of traditional Chinese medicine in South America."
 

In this year, the academic leading role was further enhanced. The regional conferences were rich in content, the academic activities of branches kept active, and the academic exchange activities of overseas group members were frequent. In this year, on the "World Traditional Chinese Medicine Day", a festival for Chinese medicine practitioners around the world, various activities organized spontaneously by overseas group members and branches, such as academic conferences, academic forums, popular science lectures, free clinics of traditional Chinese medicine, on-site experience, appeared in "streets and lanes" of many countries and cities.
 

In this year, WFCMS earnestly implemented the Five-Year Development Plan of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (2021-2025), taking organizational construction as the foundation, scientific research as the key, standards as the approach, culture as the link, and talents as the support, to coordinate and promote the cause of Chinese medicine and international development. The research achievements of traditional Chinese medicine have been continuously consolidated, the achievements of international standardization construction have been remarkable, the propaganda of traditional Chinese medicine culture has been strengthened, and the training of international talents has been further enhanced.
 

In 2022, we still had many wonderful minutes worth showing: the representative of the Hong Kong Registered Chinese Medicine Association, a group member of WFCMS, was elected as a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, becoming the first traditional Chinese medicine member to enter the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; WFCMS once again selected the International Contribution Award of Traditional Chinese Medicine, International Contribution Award of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Science and Technology Progress Award, and added the International Contribution Award of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Standard Contribution Award for the first time; seven traditional Chinese medicine organizations around the world applied to join the WFCMS and were approved. The influence and appeal of WFCMS are increasingly notable.
 

Colleagues and friends,
 

The past year has been a year of hard work and forging ahead of WFCMS, and all achievements are worth writing. Group members and branches poured into the sweat of heard work and struggle together, and also witnessed the achievements and colorfulness of WFCMS together. Here, on behalf of WFCMS, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciations to the group members, branches and fellow practitioners who care about and support the international development of Chinese medicine!
 

History is a solidified reality, and reality is a flowing history. Traditional Chinese medicine has been passed down for millennium. We pay tribute to history, but more,we should write a new history of struggle. Looking ahead, we have challenges, opportunities, pressure and motivation. As the largest international academic organization of traditional Chinese medicine in the world at present, we are responsible for writing history,and are more courageous to take responsibility for it in promoting the high quality of traditional Chinese medicine to the international level and making traditional Chinese medicine benefit human health.
 

We should give full play to the effectiveness of international organizations, further strengthen cooperation among international organizations, promote high-quality international dissemination and development of traditional Chinese medicine, and provide better and more convenient traditional Chinese medicine services for the whole world. We should continue to strengthen the academic leading role, build a high-level academic platform, continuously promote international standardization and persistently expand the scale of international Chinese medicine education. We should further strengthen international scientific research cooperation, promote the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine, scientifically popularize the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, and tell a good story of traditional Chinese medicine. More importantly, we should promote the global legislation of traditional Chinese medicine and promote the standardized development of traditional Chinese medicine in various countries.
 

There is no end to the vast sea, and just raise the sails towards the destination.The new journey is an expedition full of glory and dreams. In 2023, WFCMS will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its founding. We must not forget our original aspiration, keep our mission in mind, uphold the concept of building a healthy community of human beings, promote traditional Chinese medicine to the world with higher level, and make a gift to the 20th anniversary of the founding of WFCMS with colorful achievements!
 

Wish you all good health, a happy New Year, all the best and a happy family!