Dear colleagues:
Serving as the first President of the World Association for Integrative Oncology (WAIO) is a profound privilege. This is not just a milestone in my personal career, but also a pivotal moment for all of us dedicated to advancing integrative oncology worldwide.
WAIO was a new association, with its headquarters located in Tianjin, China. During 2023 Chinese Congress of Holistic Integrative Oncology held in Tianjin, we initiated the World Association for integrative oncology (WAIO). The initiators included 16 countries. After one year of operation, the membership has reached 120, from 60 countries. In 2024, we held our first general assembly, where the Constitution was formally adopted by the 120 members.
The pathogenesis of cancer is complex, varied and full of heterogeneity, and hard to be solved based on a theory of single discipline affect. One kind of cancer can affect the whole body. Under this circumstance, I proposed the idea of “holistic medicine”, to treat human as a whole body, and thus to initiate to build the WAIO, calling on scientists, oncologist, medical students, and the public to face the cancer challenge in the spirit of solidarity by integrating theories in various fields and disciplines and clinical experience. WAIO was not merely an idea. It was a response to a cry for change, a catalyst for a paradigm shift in the way we approach oncology. Our aim, from the very inception, has been to harmonize the best of conventional medicine with the wisdom of integrative approaches, thereby to break the bottleneck in the development of oncology and innovate a new system of holistic integrative oncology.
The significance of WAIO lies in its ability to unite with medical professionals and researchers from all over the world to actively carry out international academic exchanges and cooperation, and promote the global spread of the concept of integrated oncology medicine.
The path ahead is filled with promise and potential, but also with challenges that require our collective ingenuity and resilience. I am heartened by the knowledge that we are not alone in this endeavor. We are a global family, united by a common cause, and together, we will overcome any obstacle that stands between us and our vision of a world where cancer is no longer a life-threatening disease.
Prof. Daiming Fan
World Association for Integrative Oncology(WAIO)