Achievements

The Early Years: 50's & 60's
1951	WCPT inaugurated in the Ingeniørhuset Restaurant, Copenhagen, Denmark
1952	WCPT initiates formal relationship with the World Health Organisation (WHO)
1953	First WCPT World Congress, London Second General Meeting agrees that emblem used on Congress programme should be adopted as the official emblem of WCPT Accounts for year ended 31st December 1953 show a bank balance of £580
1954	WCPT represented at the Third International Poliomyelitis Conference in Rome, where Dr Jonas E Salk and Dr Albert B Sabin speak of their experiments with vaccines
1955	Official relationship with the World Health Organisation begins
1956	Second Congress and Third General Meeting held in New York
1958	WCPT gains consultative status with UNICEF
1959	WCPT President Griffin completes her world tour of 18 countries Fourth General Meeting and Third Congress held in Paris, France Draft ethical principles for physical therapists ratified
1960	Plans announced for WCPT to have a paid secretary and its own Secretariat European Confederation of Physical Therapy formed
1961	M J Neilson appointed the first Secretary General WCPT represented at major meetings organised by WHO, UNICEF, and the International Union for Child Welfare General Secretary Neilson visits Egypt twice and with President Agersnap, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia
1962	Office accommodation obtained rent free from the Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses in London New octagonal WCPT emblem introduced Miss Neilson visits Turkey and Greece
1963	WCPT publishes a glossary of terms commonly used by physical therapists WCPT General Meeting and Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark The annual subscription, until now the same for all member organisations, becomes payable on a per capita basis Miss Neilson visits Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Ceylon, India, UAR and Lebanon
1965	Miss Neilson visits Latin America and Poland to report on standards of physical therapy services and training programmes
1966	Miss Neilson visits Czechoslovakia to obtain information on training and working conditions for physical therapists
1967	WCPT General Meeting and Congress held in Melbourne, Australia
1968	Miss Neilson visits West African countries to survey rehabilitation services

Growing Up: 70's & 80's
1970	Elizabeth McKay becomes Secretary General of WCPT WCPT 8th General Meeting and 7th Congress held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Articles of Association are revised allowing the allocation of votes based on the number of full-paying members in each member organisation World Confederation for Manual Therapy (later to become IFOMT) formed in Amsterdam by physical therapists from nine countries
1971	WCPT publishes a manual for use by member organisations wishing to host a WCPT Congress
1974	WCPT Congress and General Meeting in Montreal, Canada. WCPT subgroups are approved in principle
1978	WCPT Congress and General Meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel IFOMT confirmed as a subgroup
1980	WCPT sets out the case against multi-purpose rehabilitation therapists, as proposed by the WHO
1981	WCPT member organisations launch initiatives for International Year of Disabled People
1982	WCPT Congress and General Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden WCPT Development Fund initiated Amended ethical principles adopted European Confederation for Physical Therapy admitted as a subgroup Guidelines on specialisation adopted
1986	Elizabeth McKay stands down as WCPT Secretary General and replaced by Margaret O'Hare
1987	2,300 people attend WCPT Congress in Sydney, Australia. General Meeting is inquorate, due to boycott
1988	WCPT Special Meeting held at the North London School of Physical Therapy Regionalisation policy adopted in principle, and task force set up Members pass resolutions appealing to all organisations to oppose apartheid, and pledging support for the South African society in their efforts to obtain equality in PT services Change in WCPT articles to principle of one member one vote WCPT co-operates with WHO on various projects on physiotherapy and care of the elderly and community based rehabilitation
1989	Report of WCPT's joint project with WHO on the role of physical therapy in the care of elderly people published

Recent History: the 1990's
1990	WCPT's European, North America Caribbean and Asia West Pacific regions hold their inaugural meetings WCPT's first computer system installed
1991	WCPT secretariat moves to new headquarters in Abbots Place, London WCPT Congress held for the second time in London, attended by 3,000 people and opened by the Queen. Regionalisation policy agreed
1992	WCPT holds its first specialist conference, for private practitioners, in Hong Kong WCPT logo revised to an oval shape
1993	WCPT publishes a guide for rehabilitation workers on working with children with cerebral palsy
1994	WCPT's Africa region holds its first regional congress South America region formed
1995	WCPT General Meeting and Congress in Washington DC. Declarations of principle and position statements adopted International Private Practitioners Association confirmed as a subgroup Margaret O'Hare stands down as WCPT Secretary General and Brenda Myers take up post WCPT News launched Work begins on a new corporate identity for WCPT
1996	WCPT sets 8th September - the date of WCPT's first meeting - as International Physical Therapy Day New Regional Fund comes into operation
1997	WCPT publishes guides for rehabilitation workers in collaboration with WHO and WFOT
1999	WCPT moves to new offices in Victoria, London WCPT General Meeting and Congress in Yokohama, Japan International Acupuncture Association of Physical Therapists and International Organization of Physical Therapists in Women's Health confirmed as subgroups New international description of physical therapy agreed Work begins on developing a profile of physical therapy around the world

Into the 21st Century: 2000 onward
2001	WCPT holds landmark meeting on Evidence Based Practice (EBP)
2002	Website identified as primary vehicle for WCPT to communicate with its member organisations, regions and subgroups, as well as the global physical therapy community First keynote paper on EBP: Critical appraisal skills published
2003	WCPT 15th General Meeting and 14th Congress in Barcelona, Spain. First time that congress is managed by WCPT Secretariat and host organisation with programme planned by an International Scientific Committee, chaired by Elizabeth Ellis (Australia) International Federation of Sports Physiotherapy and The International Association of Physical Therapists working with Older People confirmed as subgroups
2004	WCPT Secretariat moves to new offices in Kensington High Street, London Declarations of principle, position statements and description of physical therapy available on the WCPT website New section of WCPT website dedicated to Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) WCPT website receiving an average of 19,000 page hits per month
2005	WCPT launches web based discussion forum New section on international work and study added to the WCPT website
2006	Section on the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) added to the WCPT website First keynote paper on CBR produced WCPT website receives in excess of 170,000 page hits per month
2007	WCPT 16th General Meeting and 15th Congress in Vancouver, Canada International Scientific Committee chaired by Liz Harrison (Canada) and congress uses a fully integrated online congress management system for the first time Admission of 10 new member organisations brings total number to 101 International Organisation of Physical Therapists in Paediatrics confirmed as subgroup Position statements on Standards of Practice and Guidelines for Physical Therapist Professional Entry-Level Education adopted International Society of Physiotherapy Journal Editors formed and recognised as a WCPT network
2008	WCPT logo revised Work begins on new WCPT website to be launched in 2009 Project launched to help member organisations develop physical therapy's profile providing information relevant to education, registration and practice via the WCPT website is started First-ever inter-professional and international conference on regulation of health professionals in Geneva, Switzerland WCPT collaborates on joint guidelines on incentives for the retention and recruitment of health professionals

World Confederation for Physical Therapy (2001) WCPT: the first 50 years. London, UK: WCPT

Updated on: Mon 06 Apr 2009