ACUPUNCTURE THERAPEUTIC AND
 RESEARCH CENTER, INC. (ATRC)

In its almost 20 years of experience in community health, 
training and practice of traditional Chinese medicine, ATRC was able to:

IN       
·      Develop and standardize its traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) 
acupuncture training courses and modules.
 
·      Played a major role in upgrading the quality of TCM education and 
practice in the Philippines through formulation of code of ethics, 
standards of practice for both medical and non-medical acupuncture 
practitioners.
   
·      In partnership with more than twenty (20) partner organizations in the 
different areas of the Philippines, from the Cordilleras in Northern Luzon 
to Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao, ATRC provided training to more than 
sixty-five (65) graduates of an External Apprenticeship Programs, most 
of them staff members of community organizations to enable them to 
diagnose and treat common diseases using TCM, establish community 
clinics, even translating these training manuals into the vernacular dialects 
and languages. 
 
·      ATRC contributed to increasing access to health in the communities.
  
·      ATRC’s role was crucial in the formation of the All Philippine Acupuncture 
Federation (APAF), conducting regular annual consultations and regular 
information exchange with these networks.  It also provided initial logistical 
support and teaching materials, while it also set up a monitoring and 
evaluation system to continually develop and improve the standardized 
courses it has established.
   
·      Conducted joint training activities with the Department of Health and 
maintained open communication lines with legislators regarding bills 
and laws involving the practice of traditional medicine. 
 
·      Played a role in the establishment of a government institution on traditional 
and alternative health care by active lobbying for the passage of the 
Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act of 1997.  It continually exerts 
influence on this agency by bringing in crucial personalities from different 
parts of the globe to catalyze a change in paradigm of modern medical 
doctors as well as the public in general with regards the use of traditional 
Chinese medicine, Philippine indigenous medicine and integration of 
modern medicine with these different healing modalities. 
 
·      During all these years, ATRC and now operated its own clinic verifying 
the effectiveness and affordability of alternative health care services, 
servicing mostly women (65%) and a significant number of unemployed 
folks and non government and people’s organization development workers 
(30%) in the National Capital Region.