Congress Motivationa and Rationale

Rooted in medical traditions dating back to Antiquity, including the Hippocratic medical tradition, balneology has progressively evolved into a scientific discipline devoted to the study of natural therapeutic resources and their contribution to health, prevention and rehabilitation. The diversity of historical traditions and professional practices has led to variations in terminology and conceptual frameworks across countries and scientific communities.

In this context, the harmonization of key concepts and terminology related to balneology, balneotherapy, hydrotherapy, climatotherapy and others natural factors of balneal eco-systems represent an important step for strengthening scientific dialogue and international cooperation. These natural therapeutic resources require responsible and sustainable management to ensure their long-term availability for medical use.

The sustainable integration of balneology, balneotherapy and hydrotherapy into modern health systems increasingly depends on the availability of robust scientific evidence, standardized data, digital interoperability and alignment with international health frameworks. These requirements call for renewed scientific reflection and international cooperation in order to ensure that traditional therapeutic practices continue to develop within the framework of contemporary evidence-based medicine. Cutting-edge technologies - including artificial intelligence, digital health tools and advanced analytical methods - are rapidly transforming healthcare by enabling personalized medicine, supporting clinical decision-making and strengthening research methodologies. These developments create new opportunities for balneology, while also raising important questions about how traditional therapeutic approaches can adapt responsibly to evolving technological and scientific environments.

In this context, “The 77th FEMTEC Scientific Congress and General Assembly”, to be held in Aix-les-Bains, France, from 4 to 7 November 2026, is conceived as an international platform for reflection and dialogue. Under the theme “Balneology and Cutting-Edge Technologies: Shaping the Road to 2034”, the Congress will explore how advanced technologies can support scientific evidence, clinical personalization, digital transformation and the sustainable management of natural therapeutic resources, while preserving the human-centred foundations of balneological care.

The reference to 2034 reflects the ten-year horizon defined by the official working document adopted in 2025 by the World Health Organization, the “WHO Global Strategy on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine 2025–2034”. This strategic framework provides a common temporal perspective for reflection, planning and international cooperation in the development of integrative health approaches.

Within this broader perspective, a central motivation of the Congress is the identification of existing gaps between well-established balneological and hydrotherapy practices and their representation within current international health classification and integrative care frameworks. Addressing this gap is essential for strengthening scientific comparability, improving data interoperability and supporting the coherent positioning of balneology within future health systems.

In this regard, the Congress encourages a collaborative technical process aimed at facilitating the alignment of balneological and hydrotherapy interventions with international health classification frameworks such as ICHI (international Classification of Health Intervention), ICD-11 (International Classification of Diseases, the 11th revision) and ICF (International Classification of Functioning and Disabilities), thereby supporting the development of common scientific references and strengthening the foundations of evidence-based balneology.