The Association Continues to Work Tirelessly for Professional Regulation
Professional Regulation
Conference of Chinese Medicine Organisation Leaders by the ETCMA
The conference was held to present developments in the field of Chinese medicine across various countries, approve budgets, and outline plans for 2023. The Association is working to promote recognition of its members and to establish professional ties with Chinese medicine organisations worldwide. The Association was proudly represented at the conference by its Chairperson, Yaniv Pathia.
Meeting with the Chief of Staff of the Senior Division for Occupational Regulation at the Ministry of Economy and Industry – Labor Division
Following the meeting with the Minister of Economy and Industry, Chairperson Yaniv Phaya and the Association’s spokesperson, Avi Peled, met with the Head of the Senior Division for the Regulation of Professions at the Ministry of Economy. During the meeting, we received additional tools to support the regulation process that each independent professional organisation is working to advance. We thank Lahav for their continued support of the Israeli Association of Chinese Medicine and of independent professionals in general.
To view a video demonstrating part of the division’s activities click here
Meeting with Minister of Economy Orna Barbivai
The meeting addressed issues related to compensation, unemployment benefits for the self-employed, safety net for the self-employed, program to encourage new businesses, and more. Through Yaniv, the Association Chairman, we requested her help and support in the process of regulating the field of Chinese medicine in Israel. The Minister agreed to listen and said she would act to hold discussions with relevant factors and ministries to assist in this matter.
Unification of the Traditional Chinese Healing Association and the Chinese Medicine Chamber into a unified body:
The Chinese Medicine Association in Israel
From 2017 to 2019, another committee convened at the Ministry of Health. The committee represented the Chinese medicine practitioners’ community: Guy Polak, Dr. Gali Shtopman, Dr. Dan Livon, and Noam Ezra. The committee was presented with testimonies from heads of the public complementary medicine system, testimonies from doctors and department managers in the public sector.
The committee completed its role on 31.12.2019. The summary draft was written and the committee closed with its recommendations intended to be implemented by the end of 2020. The outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis delayed the publication of the conclusions and their implementation. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis until today, Association representatives have been in constant contact with the Ministry of Health and various government ministries to give Chinese medicine its legitimate place. We have achieved successes in this, but the road is still long.
It’s important to note that as part of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, Association representatives established strong connections with additional organizations and public bodies in complementary medicine, and even established the “Complementary Medicine Forum” under the leadership of Dr. Gali Shtopman, which united representatives from the public sector and association representatives to promote the interests of the community and the public as a whole.
Following our activities to regulate the profession, this is an update on our progress in the process.
A few months ago, the Acupuncture Bill was introduced in the Knesset. The bill is a private member’s bill submitted by MK Eyal Ben-Reuven in collaboration with the Association. In politics as in politics, the idea is to carry out all the necessary moves for a bill to pass even before it comes to a vote. Therefore, we have been working hard in recent months to ensure that the bill is written in the best way for all of us, protecting us from ourselves and the community. A proposal that will position Chinese medicine as an accepted and recognized profession, a proposal that will give each of us the license number and professional backing from the legislative body.
We hold regular conversations with all parties involved in the process, from the Ministry of Health, health funds, IMA, new and veteran practitioners, Association members and non-members, schools, and basically everyone who is part of the process.
A few weeks ago we entered the winter session and all government bodies involved are interested in reaching the moment of voting on the law. However, we will not vote before we know that the vote passes and therefore we are still preparing the ground. This work is complex and requires sensitivity and listening to each and every one. A few days ago we received an appointment letter for a committee on behalf of the Ministry of Health whose purpose is to determine the next steps in regulation. The committee will consist of Association representatives and Ministry of Health representatives.
This is excellent news for all of us and we will update you on any further developments.
Proposal to Include Acupuncture Treatments for Pain Management in the Health Basket
In recent years, the Association, through Dr. Dan Livon, Dr. Gali Shtopman, and Guy Polak, worked to submit a proposal to include acupuncture treatments for pain management in the 2018 Health Basket. On 03/10/2017, we received a response from the Ministry of Health stating that our proposal was rejected (attached). The reason was (direct quote from the letter):
“The field of treatments belonging to complementary medicine is a complex issue requiring systematic attention to various aspects including the regulation of authorized treatment providers, their training and supervision, and more. These issues require broad discretion and policy formulation before decision…”
As can be seen from the letter:
- Chinese medicine is still not differentiated from the concept of complementary medicine.
- The issue of professional regulation comes up again and again.
As practitioners, it hurts to see that our patients cannot receive a response to a treatment that we know helps so much. More and more we see that if we want to establish our professional place within the health services in the State of Israel, we must go for regulation.
In the past week, the Chamber published a letter to its members in which it supports the legislative process led by the Association and a certification exam. The Chinese Medicine Association thanks the Chamber for its support in the current process, which is being conducted hand in hand with MK Eyal Ben-Reuven. We met several times with MK Ben-Reuven and the path to regulation was discussed and determined in these meetings.
We are attaching again the strategy document for the process that was already published a few weeks ago.
In recent months, we have been successfully operating on many levels and against all relevant bodies: Ministry of Health, CHE, health funds, schools, practitioners, IMA. Since then, the Association has invested and is investing large sums of money and many work hours. It’s important for you to know that in the last year alone, a total of 87,650 NIS was invested in the regulation process!
An important correction to the Chamber’s document – it’s important to note that Section 59a has no legal validity. Proof of this, for those who still insist, is a document written by Adv. Sima Levy, Freedom of Information Officer of the Ministry of Health on the matter (attached).
We call on the practitioner community, the Chamber, and its members to join the Association and together pass the law. Unity for achieving the common goal – advancing the Chinese medicine profession – the gaps are small and can be bridged, and it’s very important to act together at this time.
We want to update you on the legislative process for regulating the practice of acupuncture that the Association has been promoting for a long time. It’s important to remember that the Association has been trying to promote the field of Chinese medicine treatment since its establishment. Thanks to the activity over the years, leading schools recognized by the Association, which have expanded their studies, we are members of the European Federation as one of the leading countries in the scope and quality of education provided.
It is important for us to describe to you the dominant trend in the acupuncture field and share our concerns with you.
As you know, in recent years there has been a sharp and welcome increase in the level of demand for treatments in traditional Chinese medicine in Israel. This process has naturally led to a significant increase in the demand for professional studies in Israel, so that by necessity, several schools for Chinese medicine studies have been established where hundreds of students study each year.
Unlike medical, nursing, and various paramedical professions, Chinese medicine, with its various treatment methods, has no regulated status or framework for activity. The resulting implication is that the entire world of Chinese medicine in Israel operates without a guiding hand and without supervision over those authorized to practice it, except for the activities of the Israeli Association for Traditional Chinese Medicine on the matter. In other words, in the current situation, there is no supervision or control over an acupuncturist who is not a member of the association (or who has not studied for at least 4 years in a school recognized by the association) and who has studied in an abbreviated framework of a course or one year of study. There is no standardization of practitioners’ training processes, admission requirements to the profession, the conditions under which treatments are given, what is forbidden and what is permitted for a practitioner to perform and what to avoid. There is no ability to monitor the quality of treatments and no remedy for those who have been wronged in the context of receiving negligent treatment.
This reality is dangerous for all of us and may undermine the foundations of the profession in the foreseeable future, without government intervention that will enforce rules and regulations on the provision of acupuncture treatment services. Therefore, we believe that creating legislation to regulate the practice of acupuncture is the most necessary and required solution to ensure the quality of acupuncture treatments given to hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens, and to maintain the sustainability of the profession.
And now we will update on the legislative activities and achievements so far:
At the opening of the last Knesset session, a private bill by MK Eyal Ben-Reuven was placed on the Knesset table, aimed at regulating the practice of acupuncture in Israel. This proposal was derived from the original proposal that passed first reading more than a decade ago. The association maintains full cooperation with the Knesset member so that its contents align with the goals for which we operate – full regulation of acupuncture practice, while shaping a control and supervision system, creating a uniform standard for training processes, and setting admission requirements for those who wish to practice in the profession.
In addition and parallel to the introduction of the bill, we have carried out several significant and unprecedented actions in their scope in order to form a strong coalition – professional, parliamentary, and regulatory – that will increase our chances of passing the bill in the current Knesset session.
Here are some of them:
- We opened professional dialogue with the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) to receive official support for the contents of the bill. In the coming days, we are expected to receive an official support document from the organization for the regulation process.
- We approached all health funds in Israel with a similar goal. So far, representatives of the health funds agree with us that there is importance in regulating and organizing the practice of acupuncture. We maintain contact with them as the main employers of about two-thirds of the practitioners in the country.
- We have opened talks with the National Council for Higher Education (CHE) in order to create an agreement regarding the academization process, this is in parallel with the regulation of legislation according to government conditions. The talks are conducted with the most senior levels in the CHE who express a great desire to join the legislative process and support it.
- We met with representatives of the most senior professional officials in the Ministry of Health and presented to them the contents of the law and the complex reality of the acupuncture profession that affects hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens. The talks are progressing these days and we hope that together we will find a solution that is agreed upon by all parties.
We managed to enlist leading and significant figures from the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee to support the process itself and the bill.
Association and Government – Update on the regulation process and call for membership renewal.
Dear Association members and practitioners,
Allow me to be direct and skip the introductions. For those who still haven’t understood the significance of regulating the acupuncture field and its necessity, it’s important to read the following. I am addressing practitioners who are association members and also those who have studied for 4 years in one of the schools recognized by the association and are not currently members.
Why do you think the current situation is so bad for practitioners and the profession in general?
The implication resulting from the lack of regulation is that the entire world of Chinese medicine in Israel operates without a guiding hand and without supervision over those authorized to practice it, except for the activities of the Israeli Association on the matter. In the current situation, there is no supervision or control, and no standardization of practitioners’ training processes, admission requirements to the profession, the conditions under which treatments are given, what is forbidden and what is permitted for a practitioner to perform and what to avoid. There is no ability to monitor the quality of treatments and no remedy for those who have been wronged in the context of receiving negligent treatment.
So how can we maintain the dignity of the profession? And what will happen if every physiotherapist performs Chinese acupuncture without adequate training? And hasty training programs of one year of study continue to pop up like mushrooms after the rain? How will our profession look in just a few years without regulation? Why is it so important that you, the practitioners, those who see the profession as part of your lifestyle and source of income, renew membership in the association and support these processes?
The Israeli Association for Traditional Chinese Medicine continues in recent months its efforts to promote a comprehensive strategic process (regulatory-legislative) with the aim of bringing about comprehensive regulation of the field of acupuncture practice in Israel. In our view, regulating the practice of acupuncture is the most necessary and required solution to ensure the quality of professional treatment currently given to thousands of Israeli citizens on the one hand, and to maintain the sustainability of the profession on the other.
Some of the practitioner community is very afraid of regulation and thinks that the current situation is preferable to creating changes, what is your position on this?
Regulation and legislation that will occur under the leadership of the Chinese medicine practitioner community will indeed impose certain limitations on us, and true, no one likes limitations. But this is what’s called “taking responsibility”, those limitations will protect you as the only practitioners authorized to practice this profession, without competition from charlatans who have taken a course or one year of study. The nature of the regulation, if you are all involved in it, will stop the process currently taking place of harm to the profession and it is what will protect you as the authorized practitioners leading the field.
We understand that it is difficult to accept change, and that many practitioners prefer to continue operating when the definitions are vague, and there is seemingly freedom of action, but it’s important to remember that this is the same freedom of action that doesn’t allow most of you to properly integrate into any hospital department, this is the freedom that doesn’t allow the profession to be budgeted by the state as part of the treatment basket, and this is the freedom whose result is the charlatan training tracks that we all feel helpless against, and lead to the degradation of the profession, to an increase in cases of treatment with negative results accompanied by negative articles about our field, and to increased competition against you – practitioners who have studied properly.
Is there a way for new or veteran practitioners to help in the association’s process?
The association is not a separate entity from you; the association is you! The association is the body that has made the longest journey in working with the authorities, and it is also the only body in Israel that presents standards for defining a certified therapist, which the legislator can understand and use. The power to change is in your hands, whether through active support in the association’s committees or through support in renewing and paying membership fees.
What does the association’s current regulatory activity include?
Currently, the outline is being presented to all relevant officials – both among members of the Knesset and among the professional staff in the Ministry of Health – in order to convince them to support the regulation of the profession and implement it in practice. So far, we have managed to enlist several Knesset members to create a legislative process on the matter.
As we have already published in one of the recent updates, a few months ago we hired the services of the governmental consulting firm T.A.R.A to help us manage the regulation process with all government agencies. During these months, a comprehensive document was prepared that describes the development of the Chinese medicine field in recent years, presents clear arguments in favor of regulating the field, and details every regulatory and legislative step that still needs to be taken to implement the regulation in practice.
At the same time, we managed to enlist MK Eyal Ben-Reuven from the Zionist Camp, who believes in us and fully identifies with our goal. Through him, the bill that will deal with the regulation of the profession will be raised during the next Knesset session, which will begin in October. However, it is very important to clarify – without the support of senior officials in the Ministry of Health and leading Knesset members (committee chairpersons, coalition MKs, etc.), the bill will have no real chance of passing. We are currently in the midst of advanced contacts with additional senior officials. The maturation of these will significantly increase our chances of passing the bill.
All of these were achieved after much effort and hard work – and it would be a shame to stop here!
In summary:
Anyone who thinks that promoting such a process simply means ‘entering’ government offices and banging on tables is sorely mistaken. I want to enlighten you about something: we are not on the priority list of the various ministries. They have more urgent matters than us. We, members of the therapist community, see ourselves as acupuncturists who save every living soul and solve the pains of many people, support oncology patients on their difficult journey, and even contribute economically to the health system and the state!
But when it comes to legislation, this is not enough. A critical mass of therapists and intra-community activities between therapists and the general public are very important, but they are not sufficient tools to secure your professional future. To create regulatory processes, many resources are required, as well as clear and strong internal regulation, as the association has promoted throughout its years.
The Acupuncture Bill, intended to regulate acupuncture treatment, was formulated in 2002 and promoted by MK Yuri Stern z”l. The proposal passed the preliminary reading and first reading. After MK Stern’s death from a serious illness, and the holding of Knesset elections, it was necessary to restart the legislative process.
In order to carry out the promotion of legislation professionally, we are assisted by professionals whose goal is to help us identify the entity that will promote the legislation in the Knesset, recognizing the importance of the field, the importance of regulation, and the benefits it will bring to the public.
At the same time, we are also working with entities in the governmental arena to shorten the process and initiate governmental regulations that will create regulation of the profession without the need for primary legislation.
Read the proposed law
The association was established