World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS)/Acupuncture Science Association Sweden (ASAS) 2025 International Congress – Personal Report¹

Gerhard Litscher ^*

1. Swiss University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, High-Tech Acupuncture and Digital Chinese Medicine, Bad Zurzach, Switzerland; President of the International Society for Medical Laser Applications (ISLA transcontinental; since 2012), German Vice President of the German-Chinese Research Foundation (DCFG) for TCM (since 2014), Vice Chairperson, World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, Committee of Card. Rehab. (2023-2028), Honorary President of the European Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies, Honorary President of the American Society for Laser Acupuncture Therapy (ASLAT); Honorary Professor of China Beijing International Acupuncture Training Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Former Head of two Research Units and the TCM Research Center at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, Europe

* Correspondence: Gerhard Litscher

Special Issue: High-Tech and Digital Chinese Medicine (DCM)

Received: September 24, 2025 | Accepted: September 25, 2025 | Published: September 25, 2025

OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 2025, Volume 10, Issue 3, doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2503040

Recommended citation: Litscher G. World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS)/Acupuncture Science Association Sweden (ASAS) 2025 International Congress – Personal Report¹. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 2025; 10(3): 040; doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2503040.

© 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is correctly cited.

Date: September 19–21, 2025

Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Event Website: www.wfas-asas2025.com

Organizers: World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS), Acupuncture Science Association Sweden (ASAS), and partners

Theme: “Acupuncture and Human Health”

1. Introduction

This personal report summarizes my experience attending the WFAS/ASAS 2025 International Symposium in Stockholm. The event brought together acupuncture practitioners, researchers, educators, and policymakers from around the world to explore the current state and future direction of acupuncture and related disciplines.

The theme of this year’s symposium, “Acupuncture and Human Health,” emphasized the vital role of acupuncture in promoting health, preventing disease, and supporting holistic well-being.

The symposium featured a wide range of sessions focused on scientific research, clinical applications, innovations in acupuncture technology, education standards, and strategies for the global integration of traditional medicine into public health systems. Health improvement and sustainable healthcare through acupuncture were central themes throughout the event (Figure 1).

Figure 1 View of the WFAS/ASAS 2025 International Symposium venue in Stockholm (September 20, 2025), showcasing the modern conference facilities and international atmosphere. Prof. Liu Baoyan, President of WFAS, gave his extensive and detailed opening speech.

The organizers made a strong effort to support international accessibility by offering AI-assisted real-time translation. However, the system encountered significant limitations, especially during specialized presentations. The quality of translation varied greatly and, in some cases, hindered full participation by non-native speakers. This remains an area for future technical and organizational improvement.

2. Program Overview

The three-day program included keynote lectures, parallel scientific sessions, poster presentations, discussions, and workshops.

Key focus areas included:

• Biological mechanisms and scientific evidence behind acupuncture.
• Clinical applications in pain management, chronic disease, and emergency care.
• Education, cultural heritage, and international certification.
• Digital innovation and personalized treatment strategies.
• The role of acupuncture in global public health.

The program was well-structured in concept, but not always in execution: several sessions, especially in the Keynote Forum, experienced severe delays due to speakers exceeding their allocated time slots. This had a ripple effect on audience availability and accessibility to scheduled talks.

3. Keynote Lecture by Prof. Gerhard Litscher

One of the most significant contributions from the scientific point of the event was the keynote lecture on “Integrating High-Tech Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine into the Digital Age: Update 2025” (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Prof. Gerhard Litscher delivering his keynote lecture on integrating high-tech acupuncture and digital Chinese medicine.

3.1 Content Overview

Prof. Litscher’s keynote focused on the integration of High-Tech Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into the digital age, introducing the concept of Digital Chinese Medicine (DCM). He highlighted pioneering technological advancements and international collaborations involving Switzerland, Austria, China, and other countries [1,2,3,4].

The presentation outlined the evolution and practical applications of DCM in Europe and China. Major innovations discussed included robot-assisted acupuncture to increase treatment precision through automation, computer-controlled laser acupuncture as a promising non-invasive stimulation method developed in cooperation with Asian partners, and teleacupuncture — enabling real-time remote treatments across international sites such as Graz, Bad Zurzach, Beijing, Wuhan, Harbin, and Shanghai.

The lecture concluded with a forward-looking analysis of prospects, emphasizing the growing potential of digital technologies to enhance acupuncture and TCM further, moving towards a more interconnected, evidence-based, and technologically advanced integrative medicine.

3.2 Session Challenges & Accessibility

Due to extensive time overruns by earlier speakers in the Keynote Forum, Prof. Litscher’s lecture was significantly delayed. As a result, of the approximately 400 registered participants, some were unable to attend, while others had to leave during the session.

To ensure access to this content, his PowerPoint presentation (PPT) is made available alongside this report. This allows all interested parties to review the scientific highlights and main conclusions of the keynote in their own time.

Here is the link to the PowerPoint presentation for the keynote lecture by Prof. Gerhard Litscher:

Link: Gerhard Litscher WFAS Keynote 2025 Stockholm, Sweden.

4. Other Sessions and Scientific Contributions

Despite logistical issues in specific segments, the symposium offered a broad range of high-quality scientific and clinical content:

• Clinical research presentations on acupuncture for pain, oncology, women’s health, and metabolic conditions.
• Interactive workshops focused on education, certification, and safe clinical practice.
• Poster sessions that provided visibility to early-career researchers and international contributors.
• Technology demonstrations showing innovative tools and monitoring systems for acupuncture therapy.
• Networking sessions that encouraged cross-border collaboration and academic exchange.

The author of this report also had the honor of co-chairing the first important session of the congress together with a colleague from China, Prof. Ma Tie-Ming from Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The title of the session was: “International Education and Promotion of Suitable Technologies” (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Participants of this crucial first session entitled “International Education and Promotion of Suitable Technologies” and Chairs Prof. Gerhard Litscher and Prof. Ma Tie-Ming.

5. International Networking and Personal Takeaways

The event brought together experts from across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, offering an intense international atmosphere. While technical challenges (translation and scheduling) did occur, the spirit of collaboration and knowledge-sharing remained strong. Some further impressions from the congress are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Impressions from the Congress and from Stockholm, Sweden, September 2025.

5.1 Key Personal Reflections

• There is clear momentum toward the global integration of acupuncture into mainstream health systems.
• Strong, evidence-based research remains the cornerstone of credibility and recognition.
• Innovation and tradition must be viewed not as opposites, but as complementary forces.

6. Conclusion

Attending the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS)/Acupuncture Science Association Sweden (ASAS) 2025 International Symposium was both enriching and thought-provoking.

The event demonstrated both the maturity of acupuncture as a scientific discipline and the challenges it still faces in terms of international coordination, accessibility, and structure.

Both communication and time management, before and during the congress, need improvement. Thank you to all persons and institutions involved in the organization.

Author Contributions

The author did all the research work for this study.

Competing Interests

The author hereby declares that no conflict of interests exists in connection with the publication of this editorial.

Data Availability Statement

This report includes the PowerPoint file of Prof. Litscher’s keynote to ensure full access for all interested colleagues. All photos © G. Litscher.

AI-Assisted Technologies Statement

An AI tool (ChatGPT by OpenAI, GPT‑4.0) was used for the initial translation of this contribution from German into English. The author has carefully reviewed and edited the final version, which was also polished by a native speaker. The author takes full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.