World Physiotherapy South America region

About the region

The South America region comprises physiotherapy associations from 11 countries/territories. There are 350,221 physiotherapists in the region and 7,942 are members of their national physiotherapy association.

The member organisations are working on a number of projects related to developing physiotherapy in the region, including projects about the entry level educational programs, advanced practice and continuum education.

Message from the chair

Physiotherapy in this region is well established in some countries and emerging in others. For example, Brazil produces 92% of the research papers of the whole region, and without any doubt we should promote research in the other countries.

As chair of the region, I am deeply committed to encourage and prioritise the development of accreditation standards, continuous education, and create regulations and strategies to give people direct access to physiotherapists. As many countries of the region are included in Mercosur, we must develop regulations to make professional mobility real, according to the signed agreements.

We are working on a strategic plan that will help us shape our priorities for the region.

Executive committee

Chair: Oscar Ronzio, member of Argentine Kinesiology Association
Vice chair: Loreto Isabel Henríquez Rodriguez, member of College of Physiotherapists of Chile
Secretary: Viviana Pérez Zumbado, member of Physical Therapy Commission of the Therapist Guild of Costa Rica
Treasurer: Flavio Feitosa Pessoa de Carvalho, member of Physiotherapists' Association of Brazil

All executive committee members will serve until May 2023.

Coming up

A regional congress is held every two years. The next regional congress will take place in Lima, Perú. This will be a big opportunity for researchers in the region to show and promote their work and for clinicians to get updates about the latest physiotherapy information. Visit the congress website.

For more details about meetings and events in the region, please contact Oscar Ronzio at [email protected]

Contact details

[email protected]