World Health Congress 2027 Prague - 20-22 August

Dear Friends,

The World Health Congress 2027 Prague is a global professional gathering focused on traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM/CAM) and evidence-based medicine (EBM).

Under the motto “Health Knows No Boundaries – Let Us Seek a Common Path,” the congress provides a platform for professionals to come together, share knowledge and experience, engage in professional dialogue, and foster international cooperation in healthcare.

The previous congress attracted more than 1,000 participants from 50 countries worldwide and brought together prominent experts and organizations.

If you are considering actively participating in the 5th World Health Congress 2027 Prague, to be held from 20–22 August 2027, and are planning to submit an abstract for your presentation, please give some thought to the following four questions. They reflect the direction envisioned for the upcoming Congress. This direction will also be embodied in the Congress’s concluding document, the Prague Declaration.

1. How can we build bridges between TCIM and EBM in healthcare?
2. How does your contribution help advance TCIM?
3. If you have participated in one of our previous congresses, what new perspectives does your presentation offer compared with your previous presentation?
4. What is the future of TCIM, and what strategies would you propose for the way forward?

Abstract submissions are now open. You can submit your abstract here:

ABSTRACTS

Warm greetings from Prague,

Tomas Pfeiffer
President of the 5th World Health Congress 2027 Prague
Soukenicka 21, 110 00 Prague 1
Czech Republic
www.whc2027prague.com 

Director
Institute for TCIM/CAM 

e-mail: info AT itcim.org
www.itcim.org

n.b. I have had some problems accessing the site - 'new domain'.

'Common Knowledge' c/o Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker's latest book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...: 

is subtitled: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life.

It is 'common knowledge' that caught my attention. In health care we seek common knowledge on several levels:

person (patient, client) 🠜🠞 healthcare practitioner (whatever their training)
carer - guardian  🠜🠞  healthcare practitioner
person / carer  🠜🠞 team

If we think about the referral processes, interfaces, gateways that people have to negotiate on their way to the above, you see how hard-won common knowledge is.

Critically, the knowledge may be 'common' but how accurate is it?

For the team common knowledge is essential to ensure safety, understanding and continually assessing risk.

In healthcare (and education) for person-centredness we take note of what data is available, but simultaneously begin with a blank sheet. ...

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC =========================  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows:

'Sometimes, though, private knowledge can no longer be contained even if it is desirable; sometimes something is so evident that it does not even need words to express it. The presidential debate brings to mind a joke Pinker tells about a man in the Soviet Union arrested by the KGB for handing out leaflets, which turn out to be blank sheets of paper. "What is the meaning of this?" they demand. The man replies, "What is there to write? It's so obvious!"' Kelly, p.9.

Pinker, S. (2025). When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life. New York, NY: Scribner.

My source: Jemima Kelly, Life&Arts, FTWeekend, 20/21 September 2025. p.9; and BBC Radio 4 Start the Week - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002k37y

Image source: https://stevenpinker.com/

Previously: 'blank' : '2+2=?' : 'Book: Love's Labour by Stephen Grosz'