AEQ information

AEQ – Spanish Chiropractic Association informs:

(*) CHIROPRACTIC, despite being recognised as a healthcare profession by the World Health Organization (WHO), and having healthcare status in most developed countries in the world — among them many European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Italy, Denmark or Switzerland, and in some of them with recognition as a basic healthcare profession — IS NOT A HEALTHCARE PROFESSION AND HAS NOT BEEN THE SUBJECT OF EXPRESS REGULATION IN SPAIN. As healthcare legislation is a matter of domestic law reserved to the sovereignty of each EU member state, the chiropractic profession in Spain finds itself in a situation of regulatory vacuum. The Spanish Chiropractors’ Association (A.E.Q.) has requested before the Cortes and the Ministries responsible for Health and Education that Parliament drive forward the legislative process to recognise the healthcare nature and the distinct identity of the chiropractic profession. In countries with legal regulation, the chiropractic degree is obtained on completing educational programmes of 5 or 6 years. Two Spanish institutions, the Real Centro Universitario María Cristina in Madrid (UCR) and the Barcelona College of Chiropractic (BCC), offer five-year programmes (OWN, NON-OFFICIAL QUALIFICATIONS) for training and practising chiropractic, pending the legal recognition of this profession in Spain. In the meantime, these qualifications meet all the quality and excellence standards required by the European Council on Chiropractic Education (E.C.C.E.), and paradoxically, Spanish graduates may practise as official healthcare professionals in other countries such as the United States, France or England, but not in their own. The A.E.Q. was created and recognised by the Ministry of the Interior in 1986; it includes 200 members holding a university qualification recognised by the European Council on Chiropractic Education, which guarantees compliance with the highest quality standards in the practice of this profession at European level, but unfortunately, to date, our qualifications and diplomas ARE NOT OFFICIAL QUALIFICATIONS IN SPAIN. If you are being treated by a chiropractor, check and verify that they are a member of the A.E.Q. in the ‘Find a chiropractor’ section of its website: http://www.quiropractica-aeq.com; that way you will have the guarantee that they meet the quality standards established by E.C.C.E. The regulation of chiropractic in Spain is a matter of political will, but in the meantime, chiropractic professionals who meet the requirements established by the Statutes of the A.E.Q. find themselves in a situation of legal uncertainty and comparative disadvantage with respect to professionals from other European countries, with the risk that citizens may be treated by alleged chiropractors who do not meet the minimum quality standards required internationally.

(**) The website www.clinicaqo.es provides information about the professional services of James Birdseye, chiropractor at Clínica QO S.L., the company that owns the content of this website. The content of this site is offered for informational and educational purposes. The owner is not responsible for the content or for the statements and opinions expressed by third parties on its website. The content of the website does not constitute, nor is it intended to replace, professional healthcare advice, since CHIROPRACTIC IS NOT A HEALTHCARE PROFESSION AND HAS NOT BEEN THE SUBJECT OF EXPRESS REGULATION IN SPAIN; therefore the owner assumes no responsibility, direct or indirect, that may arise from the use that might be made of this information.

(***) “Chiropractic is a healthcare profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these on general health. It is based on manual techniques, including joint adjustments and/or manipulations, focusing mainly on subluxations.” Definition by the World Health Organization (WHO). Guidelines on Chiropractic, 2005