September saw the launch of WCPT's awards programme for 2011.  The Awards Committee issued the invitation for WCPT member organisations to put forward nominations for the following awards: 

• Mildred Elson Award
• International Service Award
• Humanitarian Service Award
• Leadership in Rehabilitation Award

The WCPT awards programme recognises outstanding contributions and international leadership made by individual physical therapists and groups who have made an exceptional contribution to the profession and/or global health.

The closing date for nominations is 31st July 2010.  The recipients will be announced at the time of WCPT’s next general meeting and congress, World Physical Therapy 2011, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, June 2011.

For further details and the nomination procedure for each of the award categories please visit the WCPT website at http://www.wcpt.org/awards.  Individual physial therapists should contact their member organisation to put forward a nomination.

With a closing date of 31 October the deadline for the call for focused symposia is just one month away. Submissions are being sought covering any topic with international appeal that fit at least one of the programme tracks for World Physical Therapy 2011. 

For further details and to find out how to submit a focused symposia please go to http://www.wcpt.org/congress/fs.

New information is now available within the Global Health section of the WCPT website on HIV and AIDS at http://www.wcpt.org/node/27542#HIV. 

The information looks at the major role physical therapy has to play in optimising functioning in people living with HIV and AIDS. It has been prepared for WCPT by colleagues from McMaster University and the University of Toronto, Canada. It is intended to assist physical therapists who want to know more and to inform others about the condition and the benefits of physical therapy, wherever in the world they live.

The non-profit organistion, the International Association for the Study of Pain, has recently released a new book, Mechanisms and Management of Pain for the Physical Therapist.

The book explores the fundamentals of pain neurobiology and reviews the latest evidence regarding physical therapy treatment techniques and their clinical effectiveness in treating specific pain syndromes.

For further information please go to www.iasp-pain.org/PainPT.

WCPT has recently published to its website two separate information sheets, also available as a pdf download in a leaflet format, on the benefits it offers.

The first 'Why be a member organisation of WCPT?' looks at the work WCPT undertakes to benefit its member organisations.  The second looks at how individual physical therapists benefit from belonging to a WCPT member organisation. 

The information in both leaflets may be reproduced by WCPT member organisations for their own newsletters / websites / promotions.

To give World Physical Therapy 2011 its own identity the congress section of the WCPT website has been given a brand new identity.  A tulip banner heads each page celebrating the Dutch venue.  Inspired by the tulip logo, green and orange are used as highlight colours making links eye-catching and user-friendly.  To take a look please visit http://www.wcpt.org/congress.

The deadline for submission of abstracts for posters is 1st November for the second World health professions conference on regulation (WHPCR).  Please visit http://www.whpa.org/whpcr2010/abstracts.htm to submit an abstract.

Register now to benefit from the best rates, as registration fees are set to increase on 1st November.  To register please go to http://www.whpa.org/whpcr2010/registration.htm.

The conference is organised by WCPT and the World Health Professions' Alliance. It will take place on 18-19 February 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. www.whpa.org/whpcr2010